Remembering Megumi Yokota

Tonight, I’ll be trying to crash a screening of a new film about Megumi Yokota, produced by Safari Media. Here, courtesy of Norbert Vollertsen, is an article about her in Christianity Today.

Here is a previous blog post on North Korea’s handover of remains which it claims were hers, but weren’t. And one more.

UPDATE: I have so much more to say about this film than I have time to say now. The fund-raiser last night was a spectacular success, if attendance is any indication. The crowd was young, diverse, and bipartisan. Former U.S. House Speaker and Ambassador to Japan Tom Foley was there, along with numerous NGO reps from the United States, Japan, and South Korea. Co-producer Patti Kim is a striking woman and a riveting speaker who exudes her sincere dedicating to telling this story (admittedly, one that never mattered much to me before–what’s one life in two million?).

Walking home toward the Metro, I turned to ask directions from a distinguished-looking man who looked like he knew his way around. He turned out to be James Lilley, the former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea and China, and a giant among giants. He had been having a drink with friends; his appearance at that time and place was a complete coincidence. While we walked toward the Metro stop, we discussed the film and the South Korean displeasure with him at his recent comments in The American Enterprise, something I could have predicted (I predicted a “panicked reaction” among the Korean papers, which hasn’t happened yet). Come back this weekend to see a summary.

CORRECTION: On rethinking, my memory isn’t clear enough to say for certain that Amb. Lilley specifically mentioned the ROK Embassy, although I was left with that impression.