With the movement to save Shin Suk Ja and her two daughters having spread from civil society to the South Korean government and the UN, some members of the movement are now preparing to launch a trek from Tongyeong to Imjingak on the inter-Korean border to spread the word even further.
As part of a petition to obtain a million signatures calling for the release of the three women, participants in the trek will spend 23 days walking from city to city between November 19th and December 11th. The chairman of North-South Youth Action, Choi Hong Jae will lead the journey.
The 680km course has been divided into 23 sections, with the 30 members spending one day at each location before moving on. Photo exhibitions and petition signings will take place in major cities, with plans for other events at each stage.
Following an opening ceremony on November 19th, the group will trek from Tongyeong to Goseong, with later legs including Gimhae to Busan, Daegu to Gumi, Yeongdong to Daejeon and Cheonan to Pyeongtaek.
The group is expected to arrive in Seoul on December 8th after twenty days of walking, while their arrival at Imjingak on December 10th has been planned to coincide with International Human Rights Day, with a closing ceremony scheduled to be held there the following day.
The organizers of the event say they hope to “spread word of the plight of Shin Suk Ja and her daughters to the people, the UN etc by hiking across the land of our country on our own two feet.”
“The pilgrimage, a part of the wider movement to save Shin Suk Ja, is a manifestation of humanitarian spirit and an ethnic communal movement for the people of this nation to conquer the pain they have suffered and the thorny path our race has walked.”
Meanwhile, a welcoming ceremony for the trekkers was held this morning in Cheongye Plaza, which is where the regular million signature petition drive has been headquartered since October 13th.
