The military regime of President Chun Doo-hwan later expelled him from South Korea for handing out anti-government leaflets.
Later, when North Korea's disfavored classes were struck by a famine that ultimately killed an estimated 2.5 million people,[1] Peters established the Ton a Month Club to help feed the North Korean people.
He testified about human rights conditions facing North Korean refugees before the U.S. Congress in 2005,[5] and was featured in a lengthy Time Asia article in 2006.
[7][8] Peters' public activism played a role in the U.S. decision to admit the first six North Korean refugees into the United States in May 2006.
[9] In 2008, Peters was awarded the Stefanus Prize for his struggle for human rights and freedom of religion or belief.