[Human Rights as Seen by a North Korean Defector] Americans: “We Will Care About the Oppressed People of North Korea”

The prayer meeting at Unification Square on May 23, 2023.

<Human Rights as Seen by a North Korean Defector> is hosted by Jeong-yeong. Will the South and the North be unified like Germany someday? There are people who believe that the passionate prayers of the crowd that started in a square in Germany became the catalyst that broke down the wall between East and West Germany and are practicing the unification of the Korean Peninsula in the square. They are the Unification Square Prayer Meeting, which started in the capital of the United States, Washington, and is currently in eight cities, calling for the unification of the Korean Peninsula and the prevention of forced repatriation of North Korean defectors. The Unification Square Prayer Meeting that started in Washington is currently held every month and every week in several cities, including New York and Dallas, Texas. Today, I will tell you about the Unification Square Prayer Meeting that was held in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. <Recording of the scene next to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.> The National Mall, a famous tourist attraction in Washington, D.C. Dozens of people are gathered in tents next to the tourist passageway between the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Memorial. <Sound of the scene>: Lord, please let the ideology and deity of Kim Il-sung’s Juche and the idolization system collapse quickly in the North and let the Kim family’s three-generation hereditary dictatorship come to an end quickly. May the right leaders and government be established in North Korea that respect the freedom and human rights of its people and prioritize the livelihood of its people… Every Tuesday, the Unification Square Prayer Meeting is held here. Dozens of people sit on portable chairs and pray for the safety of North Korean defectors who were forcibly repatriated from China some time ago. Dozens of tourists wearing red T-shirts stopped and looked at the banners hanging on the fence, or iron fence, as they walked from the Korean War Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial. The pictures depict the poor human rights situation in North Korea and North Korean defectors who are forcibly repatriated from China. The tourists take out their smartphones and take pictures of the banners. Some tourists also sign the “petition urging the prevention of forced repatriation of North Korean defectors” on the table. So how did this prayer meeting start? Let’s hear about the purpose of the Washington Unification Square Prayer Meeting from Pastor Lee Jung-in, who is leading the prayer meeting. Pastor Lee Jung-in: Our most important thing is to save North Korea. Our fellow North Koreans need to live free, but they are suffering from the worst human rights abuses in the world, and their entire population is living like slaves and in prison. And yet, for over 70 years, neither South Korea nor the international community has been able to resolve this issue. That’s why only God can solve this. That’s why when Korean churches unite and pray, the most important goal is to get American churches in this region and other multi-ethnic churches to pray for North Korea. Why do we hold prayer meetings outdoors when we can have them indoors? Pastor Lee Jung-in: Yes. If I go back a bit to history, German unification started at a small church in East Germany called the Nikolai Church, and as it grew, there were too many people to gather in the church, so they gathered outside. It was a candlelight prayer meeting held in Berlin Square, and after 7 years, with nearly 100,000 people gathered, we remembered the history of Monday prayer meetings that tore down the Berlin Wall, and in Korea, in 2011, the Esther Prayer Movement Mission, a North Korean defector group, and our Unification Hope Mission started a prayer meeting together. Starting at Seoul Station Square, the prayers spread like wildfire and gathered in about 50 station squares across the country. Just like the German model, we called it the Unification Square Prayer Meeting. Here’s why we’re holding the Unification Square Prayer Meeting in the heart of Washington, D.C. Pastor Lee Jung-in: Washington, D.C. is the political capital of the world. So if you pray indoors, there are no people watching, and if you pray here at the White House or the Capitol, it affects the whole world. People who protest abortion or homosexuality come to D.C. to protest. Also, when you lose your country, you just come out with a flag and do something, just like North Korea lost their country, so we have to let them know about it and when we do that outside, Americans are so challenged. That’s because these people take pictures and when we pray, they pass by countless times and say, “These people are doing something for North Korea to find freedom.” Even though Americans don’t understand what they’re saying, they all agree with it and are challenged. When Korea lost its sovereignty in the past, why did we come to the US and fight for independence? That’s because we appealed to a stronger country than Japan to restore Korea’s sovereignty. Since the US is the most powerful country in the world, the US has the power to pressure China and Russia to unify North Korea. What kind of impact do you think this prayer meeting had on Americans? Pastor Lee Jung-in: If you pass by the Korean War Veterans Memorial from the Lincoln Memorial, this is right there. So tourists think this is connected. Because the US soldiers sacrificed their lives in the Korean War and helped South Korea, and they are happy to see South Korea develop like this today, but this is not the end, and half of them still haven’t found freedom and are in hell. So when they see this, they don’t just feel proud that we fought for South Korea, but that the remaining North Korea has become hell. They feel that we should save them now so that they can live well like South Korea and find freedom. When we share prayers in English, they participate by saying, “We will also pray now. The American church will be interested in the liberation of our North Korean compatriots.” What kind of effect will this have on North Korean listeners who are listening to this broadcast? Pastor Lee Jung-in: Another thing is that this is broadcast to North Korea. Even in the US, Koreans are living here, but if they hear news that they haven’t forgotten you and are praying for you, they will come to North Korea and hope that they will come to save us quickly. I heard that prayer meetings are currently being held in the Unification Plaza across the US, but how big is it? Pastor Lee Jung-in: If these movements happen not only in D.C. but in all 50 states, it will have a huge impact. If American churches rise up and churches put pressure on American politicians to say, “We have to save North Korea. We can’t just leave this alone.” Last October, in protest against the repatriation of North Korean defectors who were forcibly repatriated from China, people held picket signs in eight cities across the U.S. We went out with our kids on Saturdays, and the fact that so many people saw us and handed out leaflets had an impact. The second place we started was New York. You can see the UN headquarters, which is in front of 139 countries. It’s right there in a big building, so you can see the UN building from there. It’s on Thursday evening at 7 p.m., and in Atlanta, it’s on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Then Chicago is on Tuesday evenings at 7:00, Dallas in Texas is every Sunday evening at 7:00, Kansas City is on Tuesday evenings at 7:00, LA is once a month on Saturdays at 11:00, and now Orange County is on Friday evenings at 6:00. Ms. Park Kyung-sook, whom I met on the bus while traveling to participate in the Unification Square Prayer Meeting, said that she became interested in North Korean issues and human rights issues through this prayer meeting. Ms. Park Kyung-sook: I think it was great that people like Brother Justin, who are defectors from North Korea, missionary groups, and lecturers came and talked to me directly, gave testimonies, and talked about their activities. Ms. Park Kyung-sook said, “Currently, about 10 to 20 people participate in the Unification Square Prayer Meeting every week,” and “They make time to participate even in their busy immigrant schedules.” <Human Rights as Seen by a North Korean Defector> Today, we reported on the Unification Plaza Prayer Meeting that is taking place in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, calling for the unification of the Korean Peninsula and the prevention of forced repatriation of North Korean defectors. This is Jeong Young from Free Asia Broadcasting. Editor Lee Jin-seo, Web Team Lee Gyeong-ha

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