North Korea Freedom Week returns to Washington, D.C. this year with the 16^th annual North Korea Freedom Week kicking off Sunday, April 28^th with an international day of prayer and fasting for North Korea’s freedom and a wreath laying ceremony at the Korean War Memorial to be followed by a week of activities focused on promoting freedom for the people of North Korea people. This year’s theme is: Listen to the North Korean Defectors: Then You Will Know the Truth and events throughout the week will feature the testimonies of North Korean defectors to focus attention on the four major topics listed below.

Exposing Kim Jong Un’s Strategy: Latest Information from Inside North Korea

North Korean defectors who were elites in the regime will expose Kim Jong un’s strategy to maintain power and report on the latest information coming out of North Korea

Human Rights Abuses Against the DPRK Military

Eyewitnesses will expose the human rights abuses the Kim regime commits against the North Korean military from high ranking officers being publicly executed, the abuse of female soldiers and the use of the military to carry out the illegal activities for the regime

China’s complicity in the enslavement of North Korean women and children

Eyewitnesses will discuss the lack of human rights protections for North Korean women and children and how China’s complicity leads to their enslavement in both countries

How Women Created the North Korean Market System

While it is understood that North Korea now has a thriving market system, the role of North Korean women in creating that market system is underappreciated. Women who were part of the markets creation will tell their stories.