Pro-North Korea Conference to Take Place in NYC, Features Terror Affiliates
The upcoming "People’s Summit for Korea" is backed by Chinese Government-tied Financier Neville Roy Singham, and will feature Samidoun's Helyeh Doutaghi
A three-day conference set to occur in New York City, titled “The People’s Summit for Korea,” is scheduled for July 25–27, 2025, the Jewish Onliner has discovered. The conference, which aims to promote the interests and narratives of the North Korean regime, will take place at Riverside Church (490 Riverside Dr.), an apparent tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, according to public nonprofit records. Plenary sessions at the summit include “The Long Revolution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” and “Toward a United Front: U.S. Out of Everywhere.”
The conference will feature various speakers tied to radical anti-American groups, such as Helyeh Doutaghi, a member of the U.S.-designated terrorist group Samidoun, who was ousted for her position as a scholar at Yale University earlier this year after her terror ties were exposed by Jewish Onliner.
Doutaghi’s participation, along with organizations funded by Neville Roy Singham — a businessman with strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — raises particular concern. These groups, including far-left, anti-American organizations like the ANSWER Coalition and The People’s Forum, have long promoted the agendas of adversaries to the United States.
Ties to a U.S.-Designated Terrorist Group and the Iranian Regime
Helyeh Doutaghi, one of the listed speakers at the People’s Summit for Korea, was terminated from her position at Yale Law School following an investigation by Jewish Onliner that revealed her membership in Samidoun, a U.S.-designated terrorist group linked to another U.S.-designated terror group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). While Doutaghi's bio for the summit states she was dismissed due to her "pro-Palestine stance," it omits the key detail that her involvement with a recognized terrorist organization was the true cause of her termination.
In her summit bio, Doutaghi identifies herself as a fellow at the University of Tehran. She also previously spoke virtually with Saeed Jalili, the direct representative of Ayatollah Khamenei to the Secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council, which oversees the country’s defense, intelligence, and security policy. During that appearance, she was identified as a “professor at Yale University.”
Sara Flounders: Another Samidoun-Linked Speaker
Another speaker at the People’s Summit for Korea is Sara Flounders, a prominent member of the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), who has longstanding ties to Samidoun. In December 2017, Flounders attended an event organized by Samidoun in New York City to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the PFLP, where she was pictured standing in solidarity with PFLP flags in the background. The event also featured a video message from Leila Khaled, a convicted PFLP hijacker, and included a video discussion from senior PFLP member Khaled Barakat.
Additionally, Flounders is listed on Amazon as an author in the book Palestine and Lebanon at the Crossroads: Occupation and Resistance, which lists other authors closely tied to Samidoun, such as Charlotte Kates, the international coordinator of the group, and Leila Khaled.
Speaker Who Praised North Korea for Training Palestinian Terrorists
Another speaker at the People’s Summit for Korea is Ju-Hyun Park, a member of Nodutdol, who also spoke at the People’s Conference for Palestine on May 26, 2024, in Detroit, organized by the Palestine Youth Movement. During his speech, Park praised North Korea’s support of Palestinian terrorist groups, saying, “The DPRK has never once recognized the Zionist tumor that goes by the name of Israel,” and emphasizing what he called the “material” solidarity between Koreans and Palestinians.
He stated that PFLP founder George Habash received training in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capitol city. That claim is supported by court filings related to the 1972 Lod Airport attack, which detail how North Korean intelligence paired the PFLP with the Japanese Red Army to help them evade Israeli surveillance and provided both groups with financing and strategic guidance.
Other Pro-North Korea Groups
The People’s Summit for Korea is co-organized by several groups that appear to hold sympathetic views of the North Korean government. One of the convening organizations, Nodutdol, a U.S.-based Korean activist group, which has been referred to by South Korean officials as a “pro-North Korean group.”
The group claims that prior to the U.S. instituting a travel ban on U.S. passport holders to North Korea in 2017, it frequently organized trips to the country. As of July 15, 2025, Nodutdol has raised approximately $17,387 of its $40,000 goal to cover “expenses for the summit and other related activities”, according to a fundraising page on the Give Butter platform.
Nodutdol has launched the "US Out of Korea" campaign, demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea, cessation of joint military exercises, and lifting of sanctions against North Korea.
The speaker lineup for the event includes several other members of Nodutdol, some of whom express clear pro-North Korea sympathies, such as David Sungmin Yun, whose bio states he is based in Los Angeles. According to his bio, Yun "first discovered the world of propaganda surrounding the DPRK in high school" and has since been making films addressing myths surrounding the Korean Peninsula. He also runs a YouTube channel focused on DPRK-related content, titled "DPRK News Room."
Neville Roy Singham's Influence on the Summit
A significant concern regarding the People’s Summit for Korea is the influence of Neville Roy Singham, a businessman with strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), who provides substantial financial backing to many of the organizations involved in the summit. Singham’s network includes groups such as the People’s Forum, BreakThrough News (BTN), CODEPINK, and the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, all of which promote pro-CCP and anti-U.S. ideologies, shaping young Americans’ perspectives through their media, events, and initiatives.
Speakers from Singham-Funded Organizations at the Event
Several speakers at the summit are affiliated with Singham’s network. Eugene Puryear, a host at BTN, a member of the People’s Forum, and founding member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), has praised Hamas' October 7 attack, calling the terrorists “resistance.”
Manolo De Los Santos, a founder of the People’s Forum and a researcher at the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, and Vijay Prashad, the executive director of Tricontinental, are both scheduled to speak. Carlos Ron, a senior fellow at the Tricontinental Institute will appear as well.
The Tricontinental Institute for Social Research is a Marxist think tank that maintains ties to Renmin University’s Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, a think tank connected to China’s Ministry of Education and the Beijing municipal government. Vijay Prashad, the executive director of Tricontinental, is listed as a non-resident senior fellow on the Chongyang Institute’s website.
Brian Becker, another speaker, is the National Director of the ANSWER Coalition and a founding member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). The PSL has faced scrutiny due to its controversial affiliations, particularly following an incident on May 21, 2025, when two Israeli embassy staff members were shot and killed in Washington, D.C. The suspect, identified as Elias Rodriguez, is alleged to be affiliated with PSL's Chicago chapter.
A report by the National Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) from May 2024 revealed that three core conveners of the Shut It Down for Palestine (SID4P) coalition—the People’s Forum, ANSWER Coalition, and the International People’s Assembly (IPA)—are financially, ideologically, and organizationally linked to Singham and his spouse, Jodie Evans. SID4P was created shortly after Hamas’ October 7 attack and seeks to disrupt institutions seen as supportive of Israel, coordinating protests, campus sit-ins, walkouts, and other mobilizations across the U.S.
House Investigation Into Neville Roy Singham
In June 2025, House Republicans launched an investigation into Neville Roy Singham for allegedly backing extremist left-wing protest groups in the U.S., including PSL, the People’s Forum, and the ANSWER Coalition. Lawmakers have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to determine whether Singham is part of a broader Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence operation.
On July 9, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna stated that Singham is actively avoiding a congressional letter requesting his testimony, making it difficult to serve him a subpoena. She warned that if Singham is hiding in China, Congress will ask the State Department and Treasury to freeze his assets and revoke his visa.
Involvement of South Korean Delegation Raises Alarms
In addition to U.S.-based organizations, the summit features a delegation of South Korean organizations, one of which is the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). This group has come under scrutiny in South Korea. In 2023, South Korean prosecutors charged four senior KCTU officials with operating as North Korean agents. Authorities alleged that these union leaders used coded messages hidden in obscure YourTube videos to communicate with North Korean handlers.
Investigators claimed the accused were instructed to gather intelligence on military installations and exploit their union leadership roles to stoke anti-American and anti-Japanese sentiment. The plot allegedly involved covert meetings with North Korean operatives in Cambodia and Vietnam between 2017 and 2019, with contacts arranged through pre-set signals at public landmarks.
Concerns Over Ties to Radical Groups and Foreign Influence
The People's Summit for Korea represents more than political advocacy—it serves as a nexus where U.S.-designated terrorist organizations, foreign intelligence networks, and anti-American extremist groups converge under the guise of activism.
The choice of venue—a tax-exempt religious institution—raises questions about whether American taxpayers are inadvertently subsidizing a gathering that advances hostile foreign regimes and designated terrorist organizations.
This convergence represents a sophisticated influence operation designed to weaken American resolve and advance authoritarian agendas. The American public deserves transparency about who is funding and organizing such events—and what their true objectives may be.