Adrian Hong Chang (b. 1983 or 1984 in

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

), is a Mexican-American human rights activist of Korean descent. He is known for his leadership of the political group Free Joseon, a self-described North Korean

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

based in Los Angeles. Hong serves as managing director of Free Joseon and was previously head of Pegasus Strategies LLC, an advisory firm. His commentary calling attention to North Korean human rights abuses has been published in many American newspapers and magazines, including ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...

''. He is a co-founder of the Street Symphony, a classical music group based in Los Angeles.

Early life and education

Hong's father, Joseph, was a Christian missionary and taekwondo champion, who immigrated to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. He taught martial arts in Tijuana under the name 'El Tigre'. Hong was born in Tijuana in either 1983 or 1984, making him a Mexican national by birth. In 1991, at the age of seven, he immigrated along with his family to

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh-most populous city in Southern California ...

. Hong attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Co-Founder of Liberty in North Korea

Hong was the co-founder and executive director of

Liberty in North Korea Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) is a 501(c) organization, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization registered in Long Beach, California, United States. It maintains an office in Seoul, South Korea. The organization rescues North Korean defectors, refugees ...

(LiNK), an international

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

devoted to human rights in North Korea. In May 2006, LINK helped arrange the first asylum to be given to North Korean refugees by the US. In 2009, his work with Liberty in North Korea appears to have ended, according to a statement from that group in 2019. In 2009, Hong was selected as a TED fellow, and was appointed as an Alfred Wolfers Fellow at Yale University.

Arrest and deportation from China

Hong was arrested and deported from China for his efforts to help North Korean refugees living in the country illegally.

Humanitarian work in Libya and Los Angeles

In 2011, he traveled to Libya to "help open the door for the evacuation of tens of thousands of injured civilians and provide them with urgent medical care in Jordan." He also co-founded the group Street Symphony with another TED fellow, Robert Vijay Gupta, in order to bring "live classical music to mentally ill individuals living in deeply impoverished, disenfranchised communities in Los Angeles".

Awards and recognition

In 2012, Hong was the co-recipient of a

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

grant.

Involvement in 2019 North Korean embassy in Madrid incident

In February 2019, Hong was charged by Spanish authorities along with other perpetrators for invading the North Korean embassy and assaulting the staff during the 2019 North Korean embassy in Madrid incident, during which he used the aliases 'Mathew Chao' and 'Oswaldo Trump'. Free Joseon and Hong have denied that this was a raid, and assert that its members were invited into the embassy compound by one or more staff members. Rather than a raid, the North Korean embassy incident was reportedly an attempted defection made to appear as a kidnapping to protect the defectors' family members in North Korea.

References

Bibliography

*Hope, Bradley (2022). ''The Rebel and the Kingdom: The True Story of the Secret Mission to Overthrow the North Korean Regime''. Crown. ISBN 9780593240656.

External links

TED Fellow - Adrian HongTown Hall interview with Adrian Hong

LiNK - Liberty in North Korea

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hong, Adrian Human rights in North Korea Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) American people of Korean descent American anti-communists Mexican anti-communists Scholars of North Korea Mexican activists Mexican people of Korean descent People from Tijuana