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My character SHIN

NC Heikin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:42:06 GMT

Reading "Escape from Camp 14" about Shin Dong Hyuk. The book which contains similar information to Kimjongilia, except when it goes into the particulars of Shin's life at the camp. It is beyond human endurance even to read it. Absolutely appalling. The big shocking revelation that Shin tells the author is that in fact, he snitched on his own mother and brother, which brought about their executions. Having been raised to believe that snitching was the highest virtue, and in any case, feeling in competition with his own mother for meager food rations, he felt no remorse. It was not until he had been in SK for a while that he began to understand things like love and honor. Now, on top of the burden of his nightmarish past, he is consumed with guilt. Yet another testament to the utter depravity of North Korea.

Broken Again

NC Heikin — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:45:24 GMT

So much for hope. The North Korean's missile launch has failed. It's Unha3 has gone the way of its Taepodongs 1 and 2. The only thing they appear to have improved is the name of the rocket. Otherwise the repetition of their "defiant" behavior only sends their people deeper into misery as another agreement which would have brought food aid bites the dust. Their obvious incompetence ought to prove to the world once and for all that North Korea is not a security threat and our focus should be on human rights in North Korea.

Shin Dong Hyuk from Camp 14

NC Heikin — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:30:39 GMT

One of my characters, Shin Dong Hyuk, who was born in Total Control Camp 14, is the subject of a new book by Washington Post Reporter Blaine Harden. Escape from Camp 14. It is out in French, too. In it, Shin is able to go into far greater detail than he could in my film. I interviewed him five years ago when he had just gotten to Seoul and was hardly able to cross a street on his own. He reveals some even more wrenching experiences than he was able to share five years ago. We wish him success with rebuilding his life.

Diplomatic Breakthrough!

NC Heikin — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:43:02 GMT

DIPLOMATIC BREAKTHROUGH! US and NK signing a no-nukes-for-food-aid agreement is huge . Some commentators have characterized this new initiative as US's last chance to have some influence in NK. The US, in this theory, worries that NK is saying, "Who needs the US when we have China." Others feel this is a very hopeful sign, that the young new leader wishes to end severe sanctions and is actually concerned with feeding his malnourished people. Kim Jong Un may also want to come in out of the isolated cold that Kim Jong Il helped bring about by testing a nuclear device in 2009. It remains to be seen if NK keeps its side of the deal. Many treaties have floundered on non-compliance. Fingers are crossed.

Repatriating Defectors

NC Heikin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:12:27 GMT

Kim Jong Un has announced that NK will kill 3 generations of families of anyone who defects from NK during the 100 day period of mourning for his late father Kim Jong Il. China, in violation of the UN treaty on refugees, which it signed, has arrested some 21 North Koreans it is about to repatriate to face extremely harsh punishment. Apparently even some Chinese bloggers are protesting.

Read the article in The Korean Herald here.

http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120215000970

The Late Great

NC Heikin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:58:08 GMT

Today in North Korea the late dictator Kim Jong Il, known as the General, and the Dear One, as been promoted to Generalissimo forever. Tomorrow his 70th birthday will be marked with huge celebrations across the land, as the day of the birth of The Shining Star. Kim Jong Il's father Kim Il Sung was declared President for Life after his death.

From a newsletter from Worldwide Protest against NK

NC Heikin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:08:05 GMT

This is interesting. Robert Park, a US missionary and human rights activist, plans to press charges against the DPRK for extensive torture he suffered in flagrant violation of International Laws and Principles during his 43-day imprisonment in North Korea. Park crossed illegally into North Korea from China on December 25, 2009 to protest against genocide and crimes against humanity taking place within the country. Some may say his action was heroic, others mad. Nevertheless, torture is illegal.

The missionary has since been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), continues to suffer frequent nightmares, flashbacks and has attempted suicide twice as a result of trauma incurred in North Korea.

There is a precedent for his action. Members of the USS Pueblo who were tortured in North Korea (1968) successfully sued the DPRK in US courts in 2009, with a federal judge awarding them $65 million in damages.

Park says he is not interested in a financial settlement but in speaking out against the regime's mass atrocities and ongoing genocide, and has vowed to devote any money earned to funding anti-Pyongyang forces within North Korea and in China.

Genocide Watch, a Washington-based international nongovernmental organization that seeks to end genocide, said in a report last month that North Korea has "committed genocide and political mass killings," and is "a serial killer state."

On Genocide Watch Board of Advisors is Samantha Power, senior director for multilateral affairs at the U.S. National Security Council. Park said he wants to meet with Power to discuss convincing national governments to invoke the "responsibility to protect."

(Most of this is quotd from their newsletter. I added a couple of comments.)

Demonstrate

NC Heikin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 08:16:53 GMT

Geneocide Watch appears to be modeling itself on Human Rights Watch. It does not yet have the same international reputation but seems serious and brings together a wide coalition of groups with the goal of stopping and preventing geneocide, applicable to North Korea.

GENOCIDE and POLITICIDE ALERT: NORTH KOREA - http://www.genocidewatch.org/northkorea.html

"Genocide Watch has ample proof that genocide has been committed and mass killing is still underway in North Korea." - Genocide Watch (December 19, 2011)

For Immediate Release

January 27th, 2012 - Worldwide General Strike and Call to Mass Demonstrations for North Korean Liberation and Human Rights

Developments

NC Heikin — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:25:10 GMT

Kim Jong Un has announced there will be no rapprochement with the South and its "puppet" government. Puppet is code for ruled by imperialists. Imperialists is code for the US. The US is code for evil. Evil is code for anyone who disagrees in any way with the regime. Except for China. (Idea for this entry borrowed from a Jon Stewart skit.) Un said the South is guilty of "unforgivable sins". Chiefly the sin was not sending condolences. The UN General Assembly observed a moment of silence for about 40 seconds in a half-filled hall. The Security Council refused to make any such gesture. Kim Jong Un appears ready to continue in the manner of his father and grandfather. Still, he may decide that feeding his people would help him stay in power. There is talk of a deal with the US that was being negotiated before Il's death. The US would send food aid in return for some nuclear step-back.

Condolences

NC Heikin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:34:03 GMT

How should state leaders deal with sending condolences? Does advanced diplomatic protocol have a formula for this situation? Condolences should be sent, but not for Kim Jong Il's death. Condolences must be sent to the people of North Korea for having suffered under this bloody tyrant for so long. We must mourn with them for the millions of lives he crushed so mercilessly.

The King is Dead

NC Heikin — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 08:46:18 GMT

Well, friends, Kim Jong Il was watching Kimjongilia in his private train and had a heart attack. Or he was gulping down a tumbler of Chivas Regal and smoking a Cuban cigar and choked. Or he was planning a public execution and heard they were short of rope. Or he was redesigning the food distribution system to exclude everyone but the 300 families in his closest circle. Or God finally smote the bastard. To which one might ask, What took You so long? So now, we might expect Kim Jong Un (the name is funny in French, like he was named Numero Uno) will probably explode a nuclear device as a Don't Mess with Me signal. I would expect more brutality, not less, as the young "Great Successor" attempts to establish his dictatorial cred. His Oneness's first job will be to make sure the poor people under his rule don't get any ideas. Deploy the army and shoot to kill. Then Young One might announce a market reform. Then devalue the money and send all the people who riot to a Re-Education Camp.

Or maybe he will announce free and fair elections, the opening of borders, the acceptance of foreign aid and foreign monitors to make sure the food gets to the starving people. We can hope. Let's hope.

A trip to North Korea

NC Heikin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:51:33 GMT

Department of Absurdity: There's a tour group that arranges trips to North Korea called Koryo. They sent out a notice that they'll do a special tour for Kim Il Sung's upcoming 100th birthday with this proviso: "At present, the exact nature of the celebrations and corresponding tourist access is shrouded in the usual mystery - no one knows what visitors can see and do, but as always Koryo Tours will be first in line. Birthday travellers should be ready for sudden changes in itinerary and hotels - all part of the excitement of the country's biggest holiday period ever!"

Protest in NY Dec 9

NC Heikin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:19:54 GMT

New York City, United States
12:00pm: Grand Army Plaza in Manhattan, silent march to DPRK Mission to the UN
1:00pm: Demonstration at DPRK Mission to the UN
Speech by North Korean Defector Activist Ji Seong Ho (President of NAUH)
Event Coordinator: cbk2004@gmail.com
For Interviews, contact: iptbak@gmail.com

There are other events scheduled for London, Berlin, and Seoul to name a few.

Protests!

NC Heikin — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:12:23 GMT

The Stop Genocide in North Korea movement is calling for international protests on December 9th, 2011, the 63rd anniversary of the UN Genocide Convention which North Korea is violating in every way. Currently, Seoul, New York City, Berlin, Tokyo, and London have confirmed to organize demonstrations, with various other cities around the world organizing more protests.

In NY they plan to hand a copy of Kimjongilia to a representative of North Korea.

Opinions and Propaganda

NC Heikin — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 23:55:21 GMT

Recently an interviewer posed a question about Kimjongilia, saying its tone was "highly opinionated". Though I've heard it before, it still surprises that some viewers apply the word opinion to the film. When one documents the crimes against humanity which have been committed by say, Charles Taylor in Liberia, or the late Colonel Qaddafi in Libya, to name just two, one does not call this a matter of opinion. The film presents stories of crimes. The victims of these crimes express their opinions about the regime that committed these crimes, but that does not change the fact of the crime. I felt no qualms about judging these crimes as unacceptable. Only those blinded by a strict adhesion to one political theory or another could possibly "opine" differently. It is the people of North Korea's great misfortune to be stuck in this time-warped Cold War debate, where excuses for the North's behavior are allowed to flourish. If the film were about Hitler's concentration camps, would anyone be saying it should have shown the good things Hitler did? Only when the dictator in question is of the communist persuasion do these questions even arise. Some have said the film is propaganda. In the strict sense, propaganda means spreading information to further one's cause. Fine. Most issue-oriented documentaries seek to persuade the audience of something by revealing injustice, e.g. sexual crimes against women by soldiers. Is there any doubt the filmmaker would want us to condemn this practice? Perhaps balance would be shown by interviewing a boy-soldier who might say he was forced into doing it. In the case of North Korea it is impossible to interview a guard at a concentration camp and ask if he was forced into his behavior. Even if he was, it would not mitigate the general crime. So in the strict sense, yes, the film spreads information about a criminal regime. But we know the current meaning of propaganda is always pejorative. This particular criticism seeks to equate Kimjongilia with North Korea's propaganda, which actively spreads disinformation and lies. To not recognize the difference is to be… opinionated.

Pyongyang today

NC Heikin — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 18:18:44 GMT

This is from a report from the Candaian organization KanCor, from writer Hazel Smith, who was recently in Pyongyang.

In most societies, the use of government resources for personal use is characterized as corruption. In North Korea the alternative to engaging in the nation-wide semi-licit market activity is starvation. Food and fuel costs are not subsidized by the government and North Korea’s population pay world market prices, albeit without consumer taxes. A litre of petrol costs $1.30 – about the same as is paid by US automobile drivers. In today’s North Korea, everyone who can engage in trade will do so – as there are still chronic food shortages and so there is a real threat of starvation and hunger – but, at the same time, all must pretend to each other that they are not reliant on the market for survival.

To read the whole very interesting article, go to

http://vtncankor.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/don%e2%80%99t-expect-a-pyongyang-spring-sometime-soon-by-hazel-smith/#more-3208

The gist of it is that there have been some real changes, such as traffic lights ( no more beautiful girls dancing on the corners!) but the poverty beneath remains, and the surveillance remains. Her fear is that though there is now something of a market, there has been no deveopment of market ethics and so forth, which would be necessary for a one day unification. It's a very interesting article.

Famine again

NC Heikin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:10:54 GMT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/06/north-korea-malnourished-ophans-floods

Very disturbing video, more reports of the threat of famine in NK, after a difficult witner of natural disasters. South Korea has offered aid,NK seems reluctatnto accept. Babies are dying.

NK and genocide

NC Heikin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 21:31:15 GMT

I received this from a colleague and am helping to spread the word. Things have not improved in North Korea, but more people are waking up to the crisis:

"This is a call to worldwide protest on December 9th, 2011, coinciding with the 63rd Anniversary of the UN Genocide Convention. Please read the following article published by the Harvard International Review, and let us know if you can assist us with translation into other languages. For those who would like to unite for this protest, please feel free to take the initiative and utilize social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to begin the mobilization process, and let us know about your demonstration at nkglobalprotest@gmail.com

http://hir.harvard.edu/north-korea-and-the-genocide-movement

Scary

NC Heikin — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:39:14 GMT

Recently a North Korean defector was arrested in South Korea for plotting to assassinate Hwang Jang-yop, a high-profile defector and former senior member of the North's ruling party. Many of my interviewees were afraid of North Korean agents operating in the South. This proves their fears were well-founded.

Just Like Qaddaffi

NC Heikin — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 21:21:35 GMT

From one of my journals:

"Leader in Waiting Recruits Pleasure Group Members For Guard Command

-Kim Jong-un picked out 90 women from February to August, 2009, with Central Party OGD's 5th Personnel Affairs Division.."

Qaddafi famously had a "revolutionary guard" of hundreds of elite women soldiers for his personal protection. Great MInds think alike.

Exercises

NC Heikin — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:08:18 GMT

The US and ROK are starting another round of military exercises. Predictably NK says the exercises threaten peace and are a "clear provocation". They conveniently forget their own "exercises" of 2010 resulted in death and destruction for South Korea. Obviously it is useless to point such things out to the People's Republic. When I was in Seoul last June we tried to make a trip to JeJu Island, but were turned back by a typhoon. Gloria Steinem has just written a piece for the NYT about how beautiful the island is, a paradise (why we wanted to go!) but that the SK gov is building a military base there, ruining part of the coast including fragile coral reefs, displacing people and disturbing the island's wondrous balance. This is heartrending. I hope the ROK can find another solution and leave one perfect place in peace, despite the Northern menace, or even as a revenge against it.

decline

NC Heikin — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:38:48 GMT

From the North Korean Strategic Information Service Center:

"Kim Jong-il Admits To Xi Jinping, "My Power Isn't As It Used To Be

Their article says Kim didn't get the financial support he sought but the two agreed they were strategic partners. Maybe the S&P will downgrade NK, too.

Getting High

NC Heikin — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:12:37 GMT

The NK regime has been encouraging drug exports as a way to raise cash, but drug use is spreading through the population. Two consequences: China is angry as drug use presents a "social" problem for them; NK regime is cracking down (again) on its own people. One newsletter I receive says kids as young as elementary school are trying drugs. Even during the Great Famine, the regime had people raise opium rather than food in order to get foreign currency, deemed more important than feeding its own people.

food aid

NC Heikin — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 15:04:31 GMT

Our friends at CanKor report that the EU is giving modest amounts of food to North Korea, while the US continues to "fudge" the issue. The decision remains very difficult as it is so obvious the North uses starvation to plead for aid around the world, while continuing to feed its very privileged few and brutalize its less favored population. South Korea understandably is having a hard time giving aid to a country that has attacked it a couple of times recently and killed forty some of its people. The US is SK's ally. It's not easy.

US Embassy

NC Heikin — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 06:40:02 GMT

Last Monday we showed the film to the American Embassy in Seoul. 45 people showed up and though we arrived late due to GPS issues (seems using a GPS in Seoul can be counter productive) only 2 people left early for their prior appointments. Everyone stayed and seemed appreciative of the film. We discussed how/when to send humanitarian aid to the North. Neither South Korea nor the US seems to have much appetite (excuse the wording) for this. Been burned too many times by the North.

latest hot rumor

NC Heikin — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 05:59:01 GMT

The Korean papers and English language Korean newfeeds are rife with this salacious bit: that the North Korean heir apparent, Kim Jong Eun, has had plastic surgery (the news item claims six times between 2007-2010) to make him look more like his grandfather, NK founder Kim Il Sung. Pictures have been very scarce until a fairly recent official photograph was released, in which he does bear a striking resemblace to the Great Leader. Maybe this explains why he has been kept (literally) under wraps up till now.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/8113817/Inside-North-Korea-exclusive-footage.html

Reactions in South Korea

NC Heikin — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:08:00 GMT

The reactions have been extremely good and very respectful. People ask why a South Korean has not made a similar film. Clearly it is easier for an outsider who hasn't got the baggage of Korea's totrtured history, war, division et al. The opening was sparsely attended but extremely moving nevertheless. A couple of the people from the film were there and they are doing really well. Ok-Soon is married and has a baby. Lee Shin is singing and speaking in public about North Korea now, no longer hiding her face. People are moving on with their lives, becoming normal, not soley identified as refugees or victims. This is the best news.

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South Korea

NC Heikin — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 05:11:13 GMT

So far, the journalists I've spoken with are predicting mixed reactions to the film here. Not surprising. The government has been debating passing a Human Rights in NK Act in parliament for a couple of years, with no clear majority on what to do. Some want to demand some improvement from the North, others feel they should not interfere. Many fear violent reactions from the North, with good reason.