Release International has helped nine North Koreans refugees fleeing famine and torture to seek asylum in the Danish Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Their desperate stories highlight the grinding poverty and struggle for survival faced by ordinary North Koreans - and the brutality meted out to any caught trying to escape.

The North Koreans were accepted into the Danish Embassy in Hanoi yesterday (Sept 24). They are pleading to be given safe conduct to begin a new life in South Korea.

In a joint statement the nine wrote: ‘We are now at the point of such desperation and live in such fear of persecution within North Korea that we have come to the decision to risk our lives for freedom, rather than passively await our doom.’

Release International, which serves persecuted Christians worldwide, helped fund the safe transfer of the refugees. The North Koreans were cared for in a safe house by Release partner, Helping Hands Korea.

One of the refugees, 39-year-old Choi Hyon-a, had tried previously to escape North Korea but had been captured by the Chinese police with six others. They were forcibly repatriated to North Korea.

Choi was tortured, jailed and made subject to forced labour, in conditions that were so harsh some of the prisoners died.

She said: ‘All of us were subject to severe torture for months. Prison guards subjected us to beating and kicking, water torture and electric shock.

‘At the prison I was given 50 grams of food each meal and forced to knit all day long, starting from five in the morning until midnight. As I result, even though I am a relatively young woman, I have a problem straightening my back. I personally witnessed the deaths of four women in my knitting unit.’

Several of the refugees had been caught by human traffickers in China and sold into slavery – a common hazard facing those escaping North Korea.

26-year-old Pang Yon-ju said: ‘I was victimised by human traffickers and sold to an entertainment club and restaurant, where I worked as a virtual slave for two years.’

42-year-old Kim Sun-hi faced a similar ordeal. ‘I was victimised by human traffickers in China and became the wife of a poor Chinese farmer. Luckily, I did not have any child and managed to break away to work at a restaurant. But day and night I was under the fear of arrest by the Chinese police. Because of this fear, I cannot remember a single day of peace in China.’

Release International CEO Andy Dipper says: ‘North Korea has one of the harshest regimes in the world. Release is delighted to be able to support our Christian partners, Helping Hands Korea, in helping these refugees to a place of safety.

‘We are grateful to the Danish Embassy in Hanoi for allowing them in. We hope they will quickly be granted asylum and allowed safe passage to South Korea.’

Release has been working with Helping Hands Korea to help fund an ‘underground railroad’ to assist North Korean refugees to flee famine and persecution and begin a new life in South Korea. North Korean defectors are regarded as de facto citizens of South Korea once they decide to flee their country permanently.

Christians in North Korea face brutal persecution, including imprisonment of family members up to three generations. Many of the country’s prison camps have been described as death camps, where inmates face being worked to death or executed for minor infringements.

RI's work for North Korean Christians includes:

• Offering financial support to Christians in China giving refuge and spiritual support to North Korean refugees
• Helping North Koreans gain safe passage to a third country, by supporting the Chinese Christians who guide them.

‘Run for your Life’ A DVD highlighting the plight of North Korean refugees and the work Christians are doing to help them, is available from the Release International website: http://www.releaseinternational.org/catalogue/product_info.php?cPath=21_30&products_id=92

Through its international network of missions Release supports Christians imprisoned for their faith and their families in 30 nations. It supports church workers, pastors and their families, and provides training, Bibles, Christian literature and broadcasts. Release is a member of the UK organisations Global Connections, the Evangelical Alliance and the Micah Network.

ENDS

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

A statement by the North Korean nine is attached. Pictures are available from: http://release.thirdlight.com/a.tlx?k=4njzevj

For more information on persecution in North Korea, please go to: http://www.runforyourlife.info/index.html

For a country profile of North Korea, please go to: http://www.releaseinternational.org/pages/country-profiles/north-korea.php

For BBC coverage of this story, please go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8272482.stm

For further information please contact Release International on 01689 823491 or by email at info@releaseinternational.org 

For more information on Release International please go to: www.releaseinternational.org