FUNERAL PROCESSION FOR FREEDOM AND PETITION AT NORTH KOREAN EMBASSY JAN 20 – PHOTO / INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY

Release International will be staging a funeral procession for freedom in North Korea outside the country’s embassy in London on Jan 20. There will be a prayer vigil, readings from the words of North Korean defectors, and interview and picture opportunities. Release will be handing in a 48,000-signature petition calling for religious freedom.

What will happen

Release will be staging a funeral procession outside the North Korean Embassy on January 20. The procession signifies the death of freedom in North Korea under the previous leadership.

Release will then stage a prayer vigil for religious freedom in North Korea and hand in a petition. Then, from a coffin, white balloons will then be released representing the potential for hope and a new beginning under the nation’s new leader Kim Jong-un.

Release CEO Andy Dipper will then present a copy of the petition to 10 Downing Street, calling on the British government to press for religious freedom. ‘With the country’s new, young leader,’ he says, ‘now is the time for change.’

Visuals and audio

Visuals will include supporters in black mourning the death of freedom. One will be dressed as the grim reaper. A drum will accompany the procession, and there will be and prayers for the future of North Korea. A clear message to Kim Jong-un will be read out stating the changes that must take place under his leadership if North Korea is to be seen as a respecter of human rights.

Where and when

The procession will gather at Acton Town tube station at 10.30am. At 10.45am it will make its way slowly to the Embassy at 73 Gunnersbury Avenue, W5 4LP. The prayer vigil will commence outside the Embassy at 11am. The 48,000-signature petition will be handed in at noon, and the vigil will conclude with the release of balloons at 12.15pm.

Why

‘North Korea has to change,’ says Release CEO Andy Dipper. ‘And with the change of leadership comes opportunity. North Korea has been among the worst persecutors of Christians in the world. It practises a form of emperor worship, and sees people with religious beliefs as disloyal to the leadership and a potential threat.

‘Christians are among those held in prison camps, which have been likened to concentration camps. Thousands more live out their faith in secret to avoid detection by the authorities. With the country’s new, young leader, now is the time for change.’

The event is the culmination of the year-long One Day campaign, calling for an end to religious oppression in North Korea.

Through its international network of missions Release International serves persecuted Christians in 30 countries around the world by supporting pastors and Christian prisoners and their families; supplying Christian literature and Bibles, and working for justice.