LiNK also seeks to raise awareness of human rights issues in North Korea through media production, conducting research, and through tours.
Having sprung out of Korean-American student activism at universities in the United States, the organization grew rapidly and produced several feature-length documentaries, as well as TED talks by its leaders and rescuees.
Liberty in North Korea was founded at Yale University on March 27, 2004,[2] the last day of the eighteenth annual Korean American Students Conference (KASCON) which described LiNK as "an explosive organization.
[6] Led by Adrian Hong, LiNK's name recognition spread through the efforts of Korean-Americans at universities and colleges who registered 40 chapters in a short period of time.
[7] The Wall Street Journal took interest in the case and one of its reporters, Melanie Kirkpatrick, supported LiNK's activities in China in her book Escaping North Korea: The Untold Story of Asia’s Underground Railroad.
[6] In March 2007, its director Adrian Hong stated that "LiNK has briefed and advocated to the highest levels of governments and agencies around the world," then called for a day of fasting.
In March 2007, LiNK altered its grassroots strategy and shifted to a membership-based model, which led to the disbanding of all chapters that year and a more unified approach to events.
[11] Song began talks with Justin Wheeler of The Option, another organization focused on North Korean refugees, and in the fall of 2008 the two groups merged, retaining the structure and name of LiNK.
Beginning in the spring of 2009,[17] they also began to send groups of interns to give presentations to schools, colleges, churches and other venues about the North Korean human rights crisis.
[22] As a result, LiNK works to rescue North Korean refugees hiding in China and helps them escape through Southeast Asia.
[18] LiNK creates and implements campaigns which highlight specific facets of importance regarding North Korea and work to bring under-publicized issues to the attention of the public.
These markets began forming in the late 1990s in response to a severe famine in the country and an inability of the government to provide adequate food supplies.
[19] The event included videos from North Korean defectors Joo Yang, Yeon-mi Park, and Joseph Kim.
LiNK used social media to mobilize people across the world to start their own fundraising campaigns online with 100% of proceeds going to rescue missions.
Their goals include the sharing of illegal media such as foreign DVDs and conveying subversive information fosters dependence on others outside the government.
[40] Shin[41] spoke of his time with the organization in his New York Times-bestselling biography, "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West," written by Blaine Harden.
In a speech that reached more than one million viewers, he spoke about his life in North Korea during the famine of the 1990s, the family he lost and gained, and the power of hope.
[47] His writings have included "China's better route for North Korean refugees"[48] and "Kim Jong-eun prepares balancing act"[49] for Asia Times Online and "How to Build on Growing NKHR Interest" for Daily NK.
LiNK responded to the controversy around this event with a statement to NK News: "Adrian Hong was a co-founder of Liberty in North Korea as a college student but has had no involvement with the organization for over ten years.