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As Cal Chapter Liberty in North Korea transitions to Link Outreach - Bay Area, we're marking the occasion with - wait for it - a new blog! From here on out, you can find us at linkbayarea.blogspot.com.

Shenyang Six are Free!

Great news today; the Chinese government has released six refugees who were captured late last year while trying to escape to the safety of the American consulate. Known as the Shenyang Six, these refugees are now safely in South Korea.

Read all about it at the WSJ.

Flooding and Famine Part II

In a previous post we speculated that North Korea's present food difficulties at least weren't being exacerbated by flooding. It turns out that was wrong, as Daily NK reports:

Following the heavy flooding that hit North Korea on the 7th, the World Food Program (WFP) has revealed that 450,000tons of granary have been damaged and 300,000 persons displaced.

WFP spokesperson, Paul Risely revealed in an interview with Voice of America (VOA) on the 15th that initial reports by the U.N. and affiliated North Korean agencies indicated a 11% loss in North Korea’s corn and rice fields which is estimated to equate damages worth 450,000tons of granary.

Risely said, “At this point we are treating this as a very significant and very serious humanitarian crisis” and added, “It would appear that anywhere between 200,000 and 300,000 persons are presently without proper shelter. These are people who will require immediate emergency food rations and food assistance.”

Flooding and famine?

North Korea may be facing yet another food shortage, if Kim Jong-Il's public statements mean anything:

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has called for efforts to boost fertiliser production, state media reported, amid concerns of increasing starvation in the impoverished country.

In a rare admission of a "problem" with food supplies, the reclusive leader issued a directive during a trip to a fertiliser complex in the northeastern port of Hungnam, the Korean Central News Agency said late Saturday.

"In order to solve the problem of food (production), a key point in the issue of clothing, food and housing, it is necessary to actively develop agriculture and increase the supply of fertilizers for successful farming," Kim was quoted as saying.

He underscored "the need to focus efforts on the fertilizer production, always bearing in mind the (late) president's proposition that fertiliser immediately means rice and rice, socialism," the agency said.

Last year, of course, flooding was responsible for a great deal of suffering as well as decreased agricultural output. With this year's monsoon season drawing to a close, it looks as if North Korea has escaped major flooding, which hopefully means that the current food crisis will not be exacerbated.

On another note, MSNBC has an American's account of a recent visit to North Korea. Linked to the story is a slideshow of pictures taken.

NK-Mongolia Pact Signed

This may not sound important, but it could portend ill for North Korean refugees in China trying to escape to third countries. Mongolia has long been a favorite destination for refugees, seeing as how it is a democracy with good relations with South Korea.

Now, for the first time since 1988 (when Mongolia was still part of the Soviet bloc), North Korean officials are visiting Mongolia. Given Mongolia's ties to South Korea and the US, it's unlikely that they would cave into any North Korean demands regarding refugee repatriation, but it's still something to keep an eye on.

The two countries signed three protocols on cooperating in the fields of sanitation, labor services and economics, Xinhua said, adding that they had also discussed enhancing their ties in other areas including science and culture. It gave no details.

...

Mongolia, a former Soviet satellite, unusually has diplomatic relations with both energy-starved Communist North Korea and fervidly capitalist South Korea -- technically still at war after the cessation of their civil war in 1953.

Medicine shortages

According to JoongAng Daily, the medical situation in North Korea is so bad that Red Cross officials are willing to take any kind of medicine they can get, even if it's expired. Oftentimes the public health crisis in NK is forgotten next to stories of prison camps and public executions, but it also is something that must be remembered:

The country is extremely vulnerable to epidemics. In October, scarlet fever, which can be treated by taking three pills a day for 10 days, broke out in the North. A significant number of children and the elderly died because they lacked the proper medicine, sources well-informed about the North’s situation said.

Daily NK has part II of its interview series with Shin Dong Hyuk up. (If you missed part I, we linked to it in our previous post.)

Also on Daily NK is a pretty jarring description of a Thai refugee prison. Defectors who make it to Thailand are far less likely to get sent back to North Korea, but Thailand is not a party to the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and the conditions are thus pretty bad.

New Refugee Testimonies

Daily NK has a couple of articles of interest out today. The first is an account from Shin Dong Hyuk, who was born in a prison camp and spent the first twenty-two years of his life there.

During the period he attended the People’s School, there were occasional free times, during which he played hide and seek with his classmates. When asked, “Did you enjoy your time with friends?” He replied, “There wasn’t anyone whom I truly considered as a friend. I have never even thought of anyone as a friend. I did not even know the meaning of the word ‘happy.’ I only got the feeling once in a while.”

The Security Agency agents who inspected them inside the camp had to be called “teacher.” “When we encountered them, we had to make way and acknowledge them. There was a sense of fear, because we had been beaten countless times over this. However, because we thought “we are people whom they can treat harshly,” we did not particularly feel any antagonism.”

When asked, “What was the most severe punishment you received from an officer?” He said, “Each day was cruel, so I cannot pick a single day.” Mr. Shin did not give detailed responses to questions regarding occurrences of human rights violations in the camps. Beatings or torture were merely daily occurrences to him.

“If we did not listen, we could have been beaten to death. From the time I attended the People’s School, there were occasionally friends who bled on their heads and died. I have been beaten severely as well.”

Read the whole thing here. And keep checking for further installments.

In other news, the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights is in the process of publishing a comprehensive account of interviews with 531 defectors.

Mr. Yoon expressed that it eliminated a private interpretation and made the testimonies into objective statistical data. Further, the compilation of materials, editing, classification, and analysis were completed according to a scientific database system. In this white paper, an objectivity with which one can observe the real situation of North Korean human rights can be sufficiently found.

The white paper, through testimonies of 531 people, mentions information which corresponds to 2,975 victims who suffered human rights violations, perpetrators, and eyewitnesses.