On December 8, 2019, a few days before the 50th anniversary of the hijacking of a South Korean airplane by a North Korean agent, Hwang In-Cheol will visit Imjingak near the DMZ to call on North Korea to free his father who was abducted to North Korea in that hijacking. The main point will be at Freedom Bridge, the bridge that Mr. Hwang and 10 others were not allowed to cross.
How many people will join Mr. Hwang that day? We know that at least six people will be there, we all pledged it last night. A former Unification Ministry official has said he will be there. One of Mr. Hwang's relatives will join. So that means at least 8 of us will be there.
Before our planning meeting, we wrapped up a Track 1 orientation for new tutors. Mr. Hwang arrived early, as always, so I asked him to speak for a few minutes about his rally and campaign. As I told him in 2016, he is always welcome to present at our meetings to recruit volunteers to his effort.
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A television team was there to have interviews and to record our planning meeting. First Mr. Hwang met with TNKR's co-founders to discuss December 8th.
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They then interview me, which was hilarious. When they wanted shots of me at work, I opened my email and sent messages to friends and TNKR volunteers.
The reporter asked sharp and pointed questions. That was bad timing, because I had been working on several things on Sunday, after staying up most of the night listening to college football.
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Planning meeting
It was then time for the main reason we were there: planning meeting for December 8th's trip to Imjingak! Jennifer, Michael and Allan are the volunteers who joined us. Such plannings are when the truest of true believers show up. Events don't happen on their own, it takes behind the scenes planning that often doesn't attract media. But in this case, media was there to document what was going on!
As far as the meeting, I outlined the history of the project, discussed what happened the last time we went to Imjingak in 2016, and what we had discussed with Mr. Hwang.
We then brainstormed the timeline and activities for December 8th.
Current schedule:
11:00 AM: Departure from Seoul.
12 noon: Arrive at Imjingak, gather at Indoor Center. DMZ생태관광지원센터
1-1:30 PM: Read and sign petition
1:30-1:45 Move to Freedom Bridge
2:00-3:00 Rally on Freedom Bridge
Please consider making a donation to this effort, the fee for using Freedom Bridge is about $200 USD.
All are welcome, you can RSVP here to get announcements related to this rally at Imjingak.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/north-korea-send-his-father-home-tickets-83533664439
Last night we had an initial planning meeting to get prepared for the rally. We aren't done, many things need to be done. We need things such as placards, to recruit people to join, a banner, raise money to cover costs (probably about $300 on the low-end).
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The TV team then had a second interview with Mr. Hwang.
I made it clear three years ago that Mr. Hwang could use our office for meetings or interviews. He doesn't have his own office for such meetings, so our office is more comfortable than meeting reporters at coffee shops or renting a room at a business center.
Join us on December 8th.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/north-korea-send-his-father-home-tickets-83533664439
Support his campaign: https://give.lovetnkr.com/en/KAL1969
Watch his YouTube playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-6_xImxyTAKr06xx029WeeS31UHzPwkf
My Korea Times column about joining his effort: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2016/06/137_208087.html