by JULIE HA
Christian charity groups operating near the China-North Korea border are reportedly living in an environment of fear, as the Chinese government appears to be cracking down hard on them in recent months, reports Reuters.
The groups, mostly run by South Korean and Western missionaries, operate schools, cafes and orphanages that provide food and other humanitarian aid to North Koreans in the area. Some groups also help North Koreans seeking to escape their country.
“I believe that the D-Day has come or is coming soon for individuals, businesses and schools who have set up fronts to do North Korea-related humanitarian and refugee works,” an unnamed source ominously told Reuters.
As many as a third of the 3,000 South Korean missionaries working in the area have been forced out, according to the Simon Suh, a Christian pastor who runs an orphanage in Yanji.
While no one has been charged with a crime yet, sources told the news agency that a Korean American man, Peter Hahn, who ran a vocational school in the border town of Tumen, is being investigated and his assets have been frozen. The U.S. State Department told Reuters that officials are aware of the investigation, though offered no comment on the situation with Hahn, who is a U.S. citizen.
In addition to the school, Hahn operates several humanitarian projects through his Tumen River Area Development Initiative (TRADI) NGO. Reuters reported that the NGO states on its website that the group’s “main goal is to sacrifice themselves for the ministry of God … Through the bridge that TRADI built around the community of Tumen and North Korea, we hope to break down the wall of oppression, imprisonment, and injustice.”
Chinese authorities are also reportedly investigating a Canadian couple, Kevin and Julia Dawn Garratt, who run a coffee shop in Dandong, near the border region, on suspicion of stealing state secrets.
“Peter (Hahn)’s school in Tumen and Kevin Garratt’s coffee shop were two organisations that were really well known,” said Suh. “Both of them being cracked down on is a huge blow to everyone, to every activist who is involved with North Korea.”
It was not clear what was behind China’s crackdown, which people in the region say started about six months ago, but experts say there is certainly historic precedent for Beijing’s cooperation with main ally North Korea. China is not only an economic benefactor of North Korea, but also wants to avoid a refugee crisis within its own borders.
Image via ExploreNorthKorea.com
