To raise awareness of the human rights crisis in North Korea, the organization LiNK, Liberty in North Korea, comes to City College to show their documentary “Hiding” on Nov. 16.

“Hiding” addresses why North Koreans are fleeing, and the risks of their escape. Up to 300,000 people have already fled, and many hide in China. Those who are sent back to North Korea face long prison sentences in political prison camps, or even execution.

“We want to make people aware of [this issue] by having this organization tell us about it,” said Andreas Schwenk, president of the International Studies Association at City College.

According to the LiNK website, in 1990, North Korea was a land without freedom of speech, assembly or religion. Nearly 20 years later, hardly anything has changed.

This fall, LiNK will travel around North America to colleges, high schools and places of worship, to spread the word.

“My expectations about it are that we can learn, first of all about North Korea itself and the regime,” Schwenk said. “They basically have, you can call it concentration camps, where they are organized to get people to work, and then afterwards kill them.”

 LiNK invited Dr. Andrea B. Haupt, director of Global and International Studies, to present their case at City College.

“People will be surprised, and also perhaps interested,” she said.

LiNK contacts many different colleges said Kelley Fry, one of the team members of LiNK.

She said she heard about City College partly because of friends who transferred from her hometown.

In 2004, the founders of LiNK were astonished by the conditions in North Korea, and decided to educate young students.

Together they formed LiNK.

“Basically we want to inform about the issues and encourage people to get involved and pay attention,” Fry said.

She said she’s looking forward to talking with everyone who’s interested in the topic.

LiNK finances their trips by “donations and kindness of others,” Fry said. “We are full time volunteers.”

This is one of the most pressing topics right now, “with the new upcoming leader and with the nuclear weapons,” Schwenk said.

“And at the same time we will get a perspective into a specific area of this country that is not often covered in the news.”

The International Studies Association, a club that promotes awareness of international affairs, conflicts and cultures, will introduce LiNK at the event.

They will talk about the goals and visions of their organization and show the documentary, followed by a question and answer session.

The event is free, and food and drinks will be provided by club funds.

Organizers of the event are the political science and the global studies departments.

For more information about LiNK, visit their Website, or to watch the “Hiding” trailer.