ENoK’s core value is an unwavering commitment to recognizing North Koreans’ dignity and sovereignty.
Centering North Korean refugees’ autonomy is crucial because North Koreans’ voices have been habitually valued only in narrow contexts that may exclude refugees’ own foremost concerns. North Korean refugees are presumed to speak as moral authorities on issues like geopolitics and authoritarianism. North Koreans are expected to divulge their personal experiences, which are probed both by state intelligence agencies and by onlookers curious about their secret pasts. And refugees are compelled to express gratitude over and over, as if they can only live their lives continually in need of rescue.
ENoK is principally concerned with making dialogue possible so that North Korean refugees can voice futures that they imagine for themselves and then take steps to realize these dreams. Given our values, planning at ENoK always begins with each North Korean’s own priorities and visions for their life, so that North Koreans can steward their work with us.
Further, in partnership with North Koreans based in the United States and in South Korea, we foster community networks among refugees that recognize the diversity of North Koreans’ experiences and outlooks, including their religious involvements, their citizenships, and their political orientations. Appreciating North Koreans’ diversity is an important correction to prevailing ideas in the United States and in South Korea that reductively treat North Koreans as a monolith. Our efforts to build community also involve outreach to people who are not from North Korea, so that we can foster friendships and thereby engage in mutual learning.