N. Korean defector to tell her story at SIWA event-玉林新闻

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N. Korean defector to tell her story at SIWA event

时间：2024-09-22 17:24:53 来源：玉林新闻

Sharon Jang gives a speech at the British Embassy in Seoul in April 2015. / Courtesy of TNKR

By John Redmond

The Seoul International Women's Association (SIWA) will host North Korean defector Sharon Jang at a "coffee morning" event at the Conrad Seoul Hotel, Aug. 23.

Some 30,000 North Korean refugees have escaped to South Korea since the late 1990s. Guest speaker Jang endured working at coalmines for 13 to 15 hours a day as part of the "despised class" in North Korea.

At the morning event, Jang will tell her story about her difficult life in the North and her escape from the repressive country.

Jang was doomed to a life in the coalmines because her grandfather was a South Korean POW during the Korean War.

Today, it is claimed that North Koreans can bribe their way out of their set life path according to their family history, but as Jang had no money, she had no choice but to work in the mines like her family.

After escaping to China in 2011, the refugee traveled for two months and 3,300 kilometers across North Korea allies China and Laos to seek asylum in Thailand.

SIWA invites members and guests to hear Jang's story and learn about Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR) from co-founders, Casey Lartigue Jr., and Eunkoo Lee.

American Lartigue is a co-editor of "Educational Freedom in Urban America: Brown v. Board after Half a Century." He is the former co-host of the podcast, "North Korea Today."

Lee is a former researcher with the Korean Development Institute and the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights. She holds a bachelor of arts and master's degrees from Ewha University.

Formed in 1962, SIWA is the largest and longest-running international women's organization in Korea.

It has more than 400 members from over 45 countries, including Argentina, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Mongolia, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The coffee morning event will be from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

The SIWA member pre-paid ticket is available to members for 22,000 won. General entrance is 32,000 won.

The Conrad Seoul Hotel is located at 10 Gukjegeumyung-no, Yeouido, Seoul.

To get to the Conrad Seoul, leave Yeouido Station, subway lines 5 or 9 at exit 3. Follow the underground passage, along the moving walkway, until you reach the IFC entrance. Walk to the escalators and go up to L1.

For more information about SIWA events and membership, visit https://www.siwakorea.com or the SIWA Facebook page.

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