By Alexander Dworkowitz
When North Korean defectors come to stay at his College Point church, the Rev. Young Goo Son often peers out of his office wondering if he is being watched.
“There are spies here,” he said while sitting in his office in a recent interview with the TimesLedger. “We know. I know.”
Son, 60, has reason to be worried. In addition to being the head of the San Jeong Hyon Church on 123rd Street, he is the president of the New York Chapter of the Commission to Help North Korean Refugees, a group that works to fight one of the harshest dictatorships in the world.
The Commission to Help North Korean Refugees raises money to help North Koreans escape the country. The commission funds missionaries living in South Korea, who at the risk of death try to sneak North Koreans out of their country.
A communist dictatorship, North Korea has been called part of the “Axis of Evil” by President George W. Bush. Human rights groups have criticized the country, saying its regime has built a huge army while allowing many of its citizens to starve.
Son called the residents of North Korea “22 million slaves.”
He was born in North Korea and moved with his family to South Korea at the age of 4. In the 1960s, he served in South Korea's army, fighting alongside U.S. troops in the Vietnam War.
In the late 1970s, Son immigrated to the United States. In 1981, he founded the San Jeong Hyon Church in Flushing, then moved it to College Point 10 years ago.
While Queens has thousands of immigrants from South Korea, no North Korean defectors live in the borough, Son said. Most of the defectors chose to live in South Korea, and their numbers are relatively small since it is so difficult to escape the dictatorship, Son said.
Five years ago, Son started the New York Chapter of the Commission to Help North Korean Refugees.
The chapter has raised about $15,000 every year since its inception, but Son was not happy with the amount, saying his group needed to gather additional funds in order to help more refugees escape North Korea.
Much of the commission's work is aimed not at helping the refugees directly but pushing other countries to aid the defectors.
From 1999 to 2001, non-profit organizations, including the Commission to Help North Korean Refugees, collected 11 million signatures from around the world asking the United Nations to grant refugee status to North Korean defectors, Son said.
While the United Nations has yet to give the defectors such status, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed a resolution last year encouraging U.S. authorities to consider asylum claims from North Korea.
“We are trying to press the U.S. government to enforce this resolution,” Son said.
The commission wants the U.S. government to put pressure on China to aid refugees.
Many people escape North Korea by entering China to the north. If refugees are discovered by the Chinese authorities, they are returned to North Korea, where they face harsh consequences, Son said.
“If they are brought back, they will be persecuted and killed immediately,” he said.
The commission seeks to raise awareness about the plight of North Korean refugees. Son often invites defectors, most of whom live in South Korea, to speak at his church while they are visiting New York City.
The commission also holds protests in front of the United Nations.
“The most important thing is publicity,” said the Rev. Hwang Park of Brooklyn, a member of the New York Chapter. “That's why we stage demonstrations.”
Samuel Son, the son of the Rev. Young Goo Son and secretary of the commission's New York chapter, said assisting the defectors was part of the Christian spirit.
“Our love for God is expressed in our care for those who are need,” he said. “And North Korean refugees definitely are in need.”
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 141.
