Today in North Korea, twenty four million people fall under the most oppressive political regime in the world. Right now in North Korea, citizens in five different political prison camps are faced with the prospect of collective punishment, and public executions.

LINK is a nationwide organization that has achieved great feats since the day it was founded at a liberty conference on March 27th, 2004. LINK also is a new club this year at Williston that has some life-changing goals. The main goal of LINK, which stands for “liberty in North Korea,” is to raise enough money to rescue a North Korean refugee. Rescuing the refugee would entail him or her coming to live in America. The club wishes to offer him or her the opportunity to the rights of an American.

Emily Grussing, Summer Flemister, and Erin An, are all members of the junior class and the leaders of LINK at Williston.  Since the spring of 2013, the girls have been working towards making LINK club a part of Williston by funding and supporting the organization that will rescue a refugee. “The idea for starting a LINK club chapter at Williston was actually Erin An’s from last March,” says Emily Grussing.

The cost to fund and rescue a refugee is $2,500. $250 goes towards the refugee’s basic needs, $500 is put towards transporting the refugee, $100 is used to pay for the refugee’s housing and accommodations, $1,350 goes into the government in the form of fees and fines, and $300 is used for miscellaneous expenses such as emergencies, tolls, and supplies that the refugee may need.

LINK club is working to achieve its goal through various fundraisers throughout the year. These will include bake sales, selling ZiZi’s cookie dough, and the sales of LINK merchandise. “We’re really excited about the prospect of selling T-shirts and wristbands at Williston, but we need to get the money to buy merchandise first,” Emily Grussing explained. The first small steps are crucial to reaching the long term goal.

“We’re trying to raise awareness,” says Emily Grussing. She explained that LINK was going to host a movie night in Reed on an upcoming weekend, during which the bake sale will take place. “There are several documentaries on North Korea so hopefully we can host multiple movie nights,” she added.

“We have already done our first fundraiser during the play, which was a bake sale,” says Erin An. The sale was considered successful. The total earned proceeds was $50. “One down, many more to go,” says Erin, “But we’re off to a great start!” she added.

“I have recently found out that we can fund a mission to help a group of North Koreans,” Erin An shared, “Which means more chance of families escaping together which costs $5000”. Rescuing families from the harsh environment that is North Korea would be a huge feat. “This might be our goal for this year and next year combined,” Erin An added.

The tension between the United States and North Korea originates back to the start of the Cold War.  In 1994, Marxist communist Kim Jong Il took power in North Korea and made some key decisions that weakened North Korea’s relationship with the United States.

North Korea broke a secret weapons agreement with the United States. In early 2002, countries worldwide began to fear North Korea when they announced that they possessed nuclear weapons. A few months following the disclosure, North Korea removed itself from a nuclear arms control treaty with the United States. North Korea also started a power plant that had the ability to process nuclear materials used for weapons and intercepted one of the United States’ observing planes with a fighter jet.

Kim Jong Un is the leader of North Korea today, and has been a dictator of North Korea through its most recent crisis with the United States. Erin An said that the political situation in North Korea is “shaky” because of the power transfer from Kim Jong Il to his son, Kim Jong Un. “[Kim Jong Un] has not undergone all the training like his father. He is far less experienced, therefore it can lead him to make unpredictable decisions that can cost lives,” said Erin An. “In March 2010, there was the sinking of South Korean ship by NK and in 2011 the shelling of Yeon Peong, fortunately not too many causalities,” Erin explained.

The most recent conflict between North Korea and the United States that took place during the summer of 2013 has worsened the relationship between the two countries. North Korea announced again that they possessed nuclear weapons and threatened to use them on the United States.

Not only is the LINK organization working to rescue refugees from North Korea, but it is also attempting to resolve the conflicts between the United States and North Korea. The organization states that their mission is to “Redefine North Korea by focusing on the PEOPLE while rescuing and providing resettlement support to North Korean refugees and pursuing an end to the North Korea crisis.”