NKFW 2005

CONFIRMED EVENTS

FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2005: CAPITOL HILL FORUM HONORING ROK POWS

12 noon: “Half a Century in a Hellish Nightmare: South Korean POWs Tell Their Story”

Chang-Ho Cho, the first South Korean POW to escape from North Korea in 1994, and Chang-Seok Kim, who escaped in 2000, will tell their stories for the first time in the United States. (There are an estimated 500 South Korean POWs still being held in North Korea!)

Hosted by Dr. Thomas Chung of the Korean POW Rescue Committee and Defense Forum Foundation ($26 fee for lunch: *RSVP Required to skswm@aol.com)

Location: B-339 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

Special Guests: Ambassador James Lilley, representatives from the National Alliance of Families for the Return of America's Missing Servicemen and Women, the Korean War Veterans Association, and the Korean American Church Coalition; ambassadors and representatives from the Embassies of the countries who fought for the democracy and freedom of the South Korean people

After the program, Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Korean War Memorial

TUESDAY, APRIL 26-SATURDAY, APRIL 30: NORTH KOREA GENOCIDE EXHIBIT

10am-4 pm DAILY North Korea Genocide Exhibit

Fairfax Korean Church, 11400 Shirley Gate Court, Fairfax, Virginia 22030

Special Events at the Exhibit:

Tuesday, April 26, 8 AM, Special VIP Ribbon Cutting and Opening Ceremony including Congressman Frank Wolf, National Endowment for Democracy President Carl Gershman, Gretchen Birkle of the U.S. Department of State, Pastor Kwang-Ho Yang, Moon Gook Han; North Korean defectors Soon-Ok Lee, Ahn Hyok, Dong-Chul Choi; members of the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and the North Korea Freedom Coalition; Seung-Min Kim; Teruaki Masumoto and Yoichi Shimada of the Japanese Rescue Movement and other VIPs

9:30 am Meet with the leadership of the North Korean defectors organizations working for human rights

Wednesday, April 27, 9:30 AM Meet the Author, Book Signing with Soon Ok Lee, author of Eyes of the Tailless Animals, her experiences as a survivor in the North Korea political prison camps

Thursday, April 28, 9:30 AM Meet the Author, Book Signing with Colonel Gordon Cucullo, author of Separated at Birth: How North Korea Became the Evil Twin

Friday, April 29, 9:30 AM, Meet leaders of the Japanese abductee and South Korean abductee organizations including Teruaki Masumoto, Deputy Secretary General of the Japanese Abducted Family Association, hosted by Mr. Jae Hyun Bae of Citizens Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and Yoichi Shimada of the Japanese Rescue Movement

(North Korean Genocide Exhibit is Hosted by Pastor Kwang-Ho Yang, Sin U Nam, Suzanne Scholte, rescuer Moon Gook Han of the International Coalition to Save the NK Slaves; The Exhibit, which opened in Seoul in November 2004 for its World Tour, includes displays depicting the plight of North Korean refugees in China, political prison camps, starvation, Japanese abductees, Korean abductees and other evidence of the horrific life for North Koreans under the Kim Jong-il regime; the award winning documentaries Seoul Train (about the underground railroad for the North Korean Refugees) by Incite Productions and the BBC’s Access to Evil and other videos will be shown continuously; the famous painting by French artist Jean-Baptiste Oh "Death and Despair”and satellite images provided by the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea are also part of the exhibit.)

THURSDAY, APRIL 28: FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF NORTH KOREA FREEDOM DAY

9:30 AM Washington, D.C., Premiere of Award Winning Documentary Seoul Train

depicting plight of the North Korean refugees in China

Welcome and Introduction by Congressmen Joseph Pitts (Pa) and Trent Franks (Az) with remarks and discussion led by Seoul Train Producers Jim Butterworth and Lisa Sleeth

Hosted by North Korea Freedom Coalition (RSVP to: erin_mccormick@wilberforce.org)

Location: 2237 Rayburn House Office Building, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.

12:00 Noon Protest to Stop China’s Violent Repatriation of North Korean Refugees

Hosted by the International Campaign to Block the Repatriation of the North Korean Refugees including the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, North Korea Freedom Coalition, the Korean American Church Coalition, and many other NGOs working for human rights for North Korea as well as statements by Senator Sam Brownback and Congressmen Chris Cox, Joe Pitts, Chris Smith, and Tom Tancredo

Location: People’s Republic of China Embassy – 2300 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

1:30: Congressional Hearing: International Relations Joint Subcommittee Hearing on North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, Thursday, April 28, at 1:30 PM

Hosted by Congressman James Leach, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific and Congressman Chris Smith, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations

Location: Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building

For more information: http://wwwc.house.gov/international_relations/109/joint042805a.htm

2:30 pm Second Screening of Seoul Train hosted by North Korea Freedom Coalition

Welcome and Introduction by Senator Sam Brownback with remarks and discussion led by Seoul Train Producers Jim Butterworth and Lisa Sleeth

Hosted by North Korea Freedom Coalition (RSVP to: erin_mccormick@wilberforce.org)

Location: 385 Russell Senate Office Building, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.

7 pm: Prayer Vigil for Freedom and Human Rights for North Korea

Hosted by Pastor Dong Soo Shin

Location: Fairfax Korean Church

Fairfax Korean Church, 11400 Shirley Gate Court, Fairfax, Virginia 22030

FRIDAY, APRIL 29

10 am: Press Conference with the leadership of the Exile Committee for North Korean Democracy represented by Ahn Hyok, Seung-Min Kim and Dong-Chul Choi

Hosted by Peter Hickman and the Morning Newsmaker Committee, NPC

Location: Murrow Room, National Press Club, 529 14th Street, N.W.

12 noon: Capitol Hill Forum with Exile Committee for North Korean Democracy

"North Korean Defectors Plan for North Korea's Future"

North Korean defectors will describe their work promoting human rights and freedom for North Korea and their plans for a democratic and free North Korea post Kim Jong-il.

Hosted by the Defense Forum Foundation ($26 fee for lunch: *RSVP Required to skswm@aol.com)

Location: 2168 Rayburn (Gold Room) House Office Building, Washington, D.C. (*RSVP required)

SATURDAY, APRIL 30

7-10 pm: North Korean Human Rights Conference with North Korean defectors, special guests and screening of SEOUL TRAIN

Hosted by the Maryland Koreans Association and Jubilee Campaign (RSVP to eunhaemary@yahoo.com)

Location: New Covenant Fellowship Church,18901 Waring Station Road, Germantown, MD 20874