Seoul Train

"Action is the only remedy to indifference. Whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation, take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."

~ Eli Weisel, 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. ~

When I taught English in South Korea in 97/98, I read snippets of info in the expat papers about the starvation of the North Koreans. People had to eat bark and grass to stay alive while the "Dear Leader" feasted. Remember when Secretary of State Madeline Albright danced with him? Should she have danced with evil? I believe that in doing so she trivialized the tyranny of his regime. I can't imagine her actions giving hope to those starving, or being tortured to death. Contrast that with Ronald Reagan walking out on Gorby or calling the USSR an evil empire. What Reagan did was speak truth to power and in doing so he gave hope to those suffering in the Soviet gulags for they knew that they weren't forgotten. I can't imagine how the North Koreans felt if they heard /or saw Albright dancing with their demented dictator. I don't think I'd feel hopeful that the world finally learned the truth of my situation. Sometimes I care more about U.S. foreign policy than I do domestic policy. The North Koreans don't even have the luxury of debating a domestic policy, which is why I want OUR foreign policy to kick Kim Jong Il's ass.

If you need motivation to get involved or give money to help those helping the NK people, then check out the movie Seoul Train or at least the website. I haven't yet seen the movie, but the website has more than enough documentation to boil your blood. The documentary depicts the harrowing conditions the NK's navigate to leave their country and their treacherous journey through the "underground railroad" made up of people and organizations who help North Koreans escape their oppression. The saddest are those who've escaped to China only to be sent back to NK to face certain death. In doing so China violates the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. China claims that those escaping do not meet the definition of refugee. That is an evil lie.