Happy Birthday, Daily NK

Last night I had the good fortune of being invited to the 5th anniversary bash of the Daily NK.  The occasion also celebrated the 10th anniversary of its parent organization, the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, aka NKnet, aka 북한민주화네트워크, and last week’s recipient of the National Human Rights Award from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.

Speakers giving congratulatory remarks included the Minister of Unification and Hwang Jang Yop (see none other than the Daily NK for what these two had to say, unless you prefer a brief article from KBS in Korean or a Yonhap video).

On a personal note, I was quite excited to find myself sitting across the table from one of the people in the movement I’ve most wanted to meet, Park Sang Hak of Fighters for a Free North Korea.  Of course, they’re one of the groups that launches balloons — sometimes carrying North Korean won, which is now as good as scrap paper or toilet paper, depending on how you want to translate it.

Cutting the cake.