Durihana North Korea Mission (Korean: 북한선교 두리하나 Bughan-seongyo Dulihana) is a defector aid Christian organization based in South Korea.[1] The organization assists North Korean defectors escape from North Korea and China, often by helping refugees to pay their "brokers" fee, which allows them to cross borders.[2] The group also provides migrants with temporary hideouts and helps them move to more secure areas.[3] Durihana has been recognized as one of the main South Korean NGOs involved in aiding North Korean defectors in China.[3]

History

Chinese police arrested founder Pastor Chun Ki-won in 2002 on the Mongolian border, on the escape route he pioneered. His arrest and eight month imprisonment caused a stir in South Korea, exposing the plight of North Korean defectors.

In 1995, as a missionary in the Yanji region, Chun met his first North Koreans in hiding. "These people had lost all their rights," he said. "The most important thing I could do was revive their humanity." Chun orchestrated the escapes of more than 1,200 North Koreans with only a handful of failures.[1][4]

Nonetheless, the group has been criticized by some for complicating the relations between North and South Korea.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Escaping North Korea", National Geographic Magazine, p. 4, archived from the original on January 20, 2009 focusing on Chun Ki-won.
  2. ↑ Yeo, Andrew I. (2014). "Alleviating Misery: The Politics of North Korean Human Rights in U.S. Foreign Policy". North Korean Review. 10 (2): 71–87. doi:10.3172/NKR.10.2.71. ISSN 1551-2789. JSTOR 43908942.
  3. 1 2 3 Lee, Woo-young; Kim, Yuri (2011). "North Korean Migrants: A Human Security Perspective". Asian Perspective. 35 (1): 59–87. ISSN 0258-9184. JSTOR 42705323.
  4. ↑ "Christian underground smuggles North Koreans to safety in South", SF gate, May 15, 2003.
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