Commonwealth Club: Kathi Zellwegger and Mike Chinoy: Saving Lives in North Korea

North Korea has been practically a pariah nation for decades. The tightly controlled communist dynasty has alternated between hermetic silence and belligerence. But what did one woman learn when she worked on the ground in North Korea, providing humanitarian aide to its people? Find out when Kathi Zellweger and Mike Chinoy join us to talk about her experience as a Swiss aid worker who engaged North Korea over nearly three decades. They’ll share the story of how Zellweger lived out her commitment to the poor and most vulnerable, despite the tensions and threat of conflict always looming over the Korean Peninsula. Zellweger was the first foreigner many North Koreans had ever met or even seen. Playing a central role in the early years of international relief efforts in North Korea was a lonely job, as Kathi addressed the humanitarian needs of a suffering people largely ignored by the world because of their location. She befriended local doctors, nurses and caregivers; negotiated with suspicious government officials; overcame international doubts about the diversion of relief supplies to the military; and, over a period of years, spearheaded an effort that provided food, medicine and development aid. Ultimately, her efforts saved the lives of thousands of people—most of them children. One official in Pyongyang declared to her during a visit in the late 1990s, that, even though she was not a missionary, “Miss Kathi—you are the Mother Teresa of North Korea!”