South’s new club Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) has started a fundraiser to assist refugees attempting to flee North Korea.

The purpose of the club is to raise awareness about the oppressive nature of the society in North Korea. According to the national organization of LiNK, they need the help of the United States and other nations to aid refugees. The club at South is finding opportunities to get students involved with promoting freedom for North Koreans.

Some of the planned activities include fundraising by collecting change, a bake sale and selling t-shirts. Members of LiNK also plan on creating presentations to teach peers about what is happening in North Korea and what they can do to help. LiNK meets every other Friday before school with sponsor Daniel Rosenstein.

LiNK is a club that has been started in other schools around the nation. Sophomore Lauren Jung, president of LiNK, started the club at South because of her passion to help refugees in North Korea.

“The club was started because this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart,” Jung said. “I had a few friends who were involved in LiNK at their  own schools and I was able to get more information to even help them out.”

According to Principal Dr. Brian Wegley, when students are passionate about something, talking to peers and getting other students involved can help spread the word about any causes to benefit North Koreans in need of aid.

“I think if you get informed and get involved, you are going to make a difference,” Wegley said.

According to Jung, she didn’t think many people shared her interest in the organization LiNK.

“I wasn’t sure how many people shared the same passion, but when I asked around, many of my friends encouraged it,” Jung said.

According to Dr. Jim Shellard, student activities director, the involvement of student voices in becoming politically engaged around the globe is extremely important. He believes that it will be difficult, but possible, to make a difference due to the nature of the closed society in North Korea.

“I think that making others aware of what is going on in North Korea is a good thing from many perspectives,” Shellard said. “Primarily that students need to find a voice and it may illuminate further injustices in our own society and things that we need to safeguard against happening.”

Shellard and Jung agree that the ultimate goal is to raise awareness, and spreading the word can make a difference.

Jung said, “Our ultimate goal is to rescue a refugee. It costs about $2,500 to rescue one refugee, so hopefully the funds that we raise will help.”