North Korea Freedom Week April 25-May 1 in Seoul

North Korea Freedom Week, organized annually by the North Korea Freedom Coalition, will kick off on April 25 in Seoul this year. North Korean defectors and South Korean leaders and activists are organizing exhibits, a major rally, seminars, press conferences, prayer vigils and other events all focused on highlighting the misery the Kim Jong-il regime has inflicted on the people of North Korea, as well as citizens of South Korea, Japan and other countries.

NKFW 2010 is being co-chaired by Seoul Peace Prize Laureate Suzanne Scholte, and Professor Hwang Jang-yop. It will begin with a prayer service hosted by the North Korean defector churches and the opening of the North Korea Genocide Exhibit and will conclude with a balloon launch from the DMZ which will include radios, money, and a special message about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"With the increasing ability for North Koreans to learn about the outside world, it is fitting that North Korea Freedom Week will be held in South Korea for the first time," said Kim Seung Min of Free North Korea Radio. "North Koreans are increasingly finding out that their misery is a direct result of the Kim Jong-il regime, not South Korea and America as we were brainwashed from birth to believe."

Warning that it was a crime to remain apathetic in the face of one of the world's worst human rights violations in history, Professor Yon Hee Lee, who is organizing the NKFW prayer vigil, warned, "We cannot remain silent as this tragedy continues or we will face God's judgment."