By Bryan Kay
Staff Reporter
Twenty years ago, protests in Leipzig, Germany, led to the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the eventual reunification of the country.
Now pro-unification activists in Korea have started what they have claimed will be unceasing demonstrations in the hope of replicating the same rapid success.
Organized under the banner ``Unify Korea 2009,'' the group began demonstrations on Sept. 4, the 20th anniversary of what are widely described as the Monday demonstrations of Leipzig, which eventually led to the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
And, similar to the seedling moments across the Iron Curtain during the dying days of the Cold War, those from the other side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) represent a central plank of the efforts.
One of the driving forces behind the campaign, who asked to be identified by only his family name, Park, due to the sensitivity of the work he carries out to help North Korean refugees, said the German example serves as an important starting point.
``The date we started the demonstrations is significant because it serves as a premise,'' he said.
``People in Korea are not thinking about unification. It is a way to get people to start thinking.''
Keen interest in the demonstrations has even been expressed by some Germans one of whom participated, and another who turned up to film footage for a documentary on North Korean gulags, according to Lauren Walker, another organizer who is originally from the United States.
Park said, however, that though North Koreans can protest, there is one fundamental stumbling block: They must already have fled their misery on the other side of the DMZ. East Germans had the opportunity to protest, he explained, but ``North Koreans can't, they have no voice.'' So, he said, South Koreans ― and the world ― should protest for them.
``There has been a lot of fighting and competing among North Korea protest groups,'' Park continued. ``We just want to unify the groups as a movement.''
The aim of Unify Korea 2009 is to raise awareness of starvation and genocide in North Korea, which organizer Park believes is the only means of achieving the ultimate goal ― unification.
Although some foreigners and South Koreans organize the movement, they do so from the background, with the majority of those involved being North Korean refugees. They are the face of the movement, said Park. ``We want to promote the North Korean refugees.''
It is their compelling stories, the group says, that will highlight the gravity of the situation within the reclusive state.
One, for example, involves refugee Kim Myung-suk. She remembers the day in 1998 when along with her husband and son, they fled their home.
``It was the Jan. 16, Kim Jong-il's birthday. If you travel on his or Kim Il-sung's birthday, it is more dangerous, but we did it anyway,'' she told The Korea Times.
``We crossed at Onsung (on the northeastern Chinese border). My husband gave the border guards cigarettes we had prepared, and they let us pass.''
As they traversed the divide, some women noticed them. ``They started shouting, 'Stop them! They are trying to leave!''' she recalled. Though they had bribed the guards, Kim said, after they were effectively forced to take notice, they then opened fire.
``We were too far away, but the noise was so loud it burst our eardrums. As soon as we crossed the river we threw down our North Korean clothes,'' she said, and exposed Chinese garments they had hidden.
These days, Kim's life may be improving ― she is now a student at Seminary College ― but she doesn't forget what is happening to her people.
And she feels the demonstrations are the solution to saving North Koreans. ``We've tried politically. We must start anew… do it the right way.''
In contrast to the widespread criticism that journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling received for illegally crossing into the North, Kim felt that the consequences of their actions were positive, creating awareness of the plight of North Koreans ― ``shining a light on what is happening,'' she said.
The first three weeks of the demonstration saw a few dozen in attendance, but organizers say that their efforts had been disrupted by the absence of key players, insisting increased success would come in future protests.
Their ``global call to demonstrations'' takes place every Friday in downtown Seoul, pursuing the message: ``Unification can happen easily; the key is people need to rise up for what's important.''
Korea Times intern JR Breen contributed reporting to this article.