2020 reflection: This was a special moment, but also one of my Old Uncle Moments!
I had met Hwang Cheol on March 20, 2016, at an International Volunteers Workshop that TNKR had co-organized. I was moved by his story about trying to rescue his father from North Korea and vowed as he spoke to get involved.
The main purpose of the Workshop that day had been for volunteers to join up with the six NGOs presenting about their activities. We had 185 people participate in the workshop and so much enthusiasm in the room.
Naturally people want to help NK refugees directly, so we weren't sure if anyone would want to join Mr. Hwang's campaign.
I was delighted to learn that many had signed up. Feeling urgency about the case, I followed up about 2 weeks later to check the progress. As I suspected and have seen on many occasions, none of the eager people had followed up. I don't know what it is about conferences that gets people so excited that they sometimes pledge their lives because they had just had a life-changing moment, but later, they carry on as if nothing had happened. Apparently they had a life-changing moment right after that to change them right back.
I asked for a follow up meeting with Mr. Hwang. When I heard that no one had followed up, I asked him to join TNKR as a student so he could get prepared to tell his story in English. I also asked if he would mind if I tried to coordinate his activities until a proper team could take it over. He was delighted! I then began recruiting Team Hwang members. Youngmin Kwon joined us two months later, that was a real game-changing moment for the project.
From that conference 4 years ago, none of the people eager to get involved have helped. People get bothered, but I like to remind them that if they can't do anything else, they can always raise or donate money.
https://give.lovetnkr.com/en/KAL1969
Some folks get bothered with my Old Uncle Ways, but I've seen too many Workshops, Conferences, planning meetings and other situations where people show up to check out possible dating targets, to recruit people for their own activities, or are just curious but don't plan to do anything to help.
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Original 2016 comment:
Like many others, I was moved by Hwang Cheol's speech at the recent International Volunteers Workshop. He discussed the hijacking of a Korean airplane back in 1969; his father was one of the 50 people who was abducted to North Korea. Eleven of them have not been released. The families have been waiting 47 years, patiently asking for their family members to be returned.
Some have given up, but Hwang Cheol has carried on, even getting one of those international bodies (I think the U.N.) to pressure North Korea. others have gotten involved, but it is a tough case. Every once in a while, a reporter will stumble upon the case, but then they carry on before getting attracted by another story.
As I wrote in my recent Korea Times column, he won't get more attention until he tries to bust through the DMZ to find his father in North Korea. In 2013, he heard through a source that his father was still alive; his father would now be almost 80 years. Forty-seven years of his life have been robbed by the North Korean regime.
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2016/03/137_200810.html
Today I talked with Mr. Hwang, TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee and TNKR translator Saria Lee to brainstorm what we can do.
I hope that volunteers who were moved by his speech, and others who are joining TNKR, will consider getting involved. He has basically been pushing for this alone for the last few years.
Mr. Hwang will be joining TNKR's "How to Help North Koreans" Project orientation on April 23, he will briefly introduce what has been going on and asking volunteers to join his cause.
https://www.facebook.com/events/930305673750008/
www.lovetnkr.org/donate
I had met Hwang Cheol on March 20, 2016, at an International Volunteers Workshop that TNKR had co-organized. I was moved by his story about trying to rescue his father from North Korea and vowed as he spoke to get involved.
The main purpose of the Workshop that day had been for volunteers to join up with the six NGOs presenting about their activities. We had 185 people participate in the workshop and so much enthusiasm in the room.
Naturally people want to help NK refugees directly, so we weren't sure if anyone would want to join Mr. Hwang's campaign.
I was delighted to learn that many had signed up. Feeling urgency about the case, I followed up about 2 weeks later to check the progress. As I suspected and have seen on many occasions, none of the eager people had followed up. I don't know what it is about conferences that gets people so excited that they sometimes pledge their lives because they had just had a life-changing moment, but later, they carry on as if nothing had happened. Apparently they had a life-changing moment right after that to change them right back.
I asked for a follow up meeting with Mr. Hwang. When I heard that no one had followed up, I asked him to join TNKR as a student so he could get prepared to tell his story in English. I also asked if he would mind if I tried to coordinate his activities until a proper team could take it over. He was delighted! I then began recruiting Team Hwang members. Youngmin Kwon joined us two months later, that was a real game-changing moment for the project.
From that conference 4 years ago, none of the people eager to get involved have helped. People get bothered, but I like to remind them that if they can't do anything else, they can always raise or donate money.
https://give.lovetnkr.com/en/KAL1969
Some folks get bothered with my Old Uncle Ways, but I've seen too many Workshops, Conferences, planning meetings and other situations where people show up to check out possible dating targets, to recruit people for their own activities, or are just curious but don't plan to do anything to help.
****************************************************************************************************************************************************
Original 2016 comment:
Like many others, I was moved by Hwang Cheol's speech at the recent International Volunteers Workshop. He discussed the hijacking of a Korean airplane back in 1969; his father was one of the 50 people who was abducted to North Korea. Eleven of them have not been released. The families have been waiting 47 years, patiently asking for their family members to be returned.
Some have given up, but Hwang Cheol has carried on, even getting one of those international bodies (I think the U.N.) to pressure North Korea. others have gotten involved, but it is a tough case. Every once in a while, a reporter will stumble upon the case, but then they carry on before getting attracted by another story.
As I wrote in my recent Korea Times column, he won't get more attention until he tries to bust through the DMZ to find his father in North Korea. In 2013, he heard through a source that his father was still alive; his father would now be almost 80 years. Forty-seven years of his life have been robbed by the North Korean regime.
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2016/03/137_200810.html
Today I talked with Mr. Hwang, TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee and TNKR translator Saria Lee to brainstorm what we can do.
I hope that volunteers who were moved by his speech, and others who are joining TNKR, will consider getting involved. He has basically been pushing for this alone for the last few years.
Mr. Hwang will be joining TNKR's "How to Help North Koreans" Project orientation on April 23, he will briefly introduce what has been going on and asking volunteers to join his cause.
https://www.facebook.com/events/930305673750008/
www.lovetnkr.org/donate