South Korea’s parliament recently passed a law making it illegal for anyone in the country to send anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets to the North by any means. The legislation has angered defectors and opponents in the South, who say the Administration of President Moon Jae-in has shown weakness to the Regime of Kim Jong-un by suppressing freedom of expression in defiance of the north’s impoverished and oppressed masses. South Korean President Moon Jae-in is betting on a diplomatic path toward rapprochement with North Korea with the phrase “safeguarding national security,” according to scholars familiar with the situation in Northeast Asia interviewed by the BBC.
South Korea’s parliament on Monday passed an amendment to the Law on the Development of Inter-Korean relations, yonhap reported. According to the amendment, anyone who violates an agreement reached by the heads of state of the Two Koreas by distributing leaflets or broadcasting loudspeakers on the “38th Parallel”, the military demarcation line, can be sentenced to up to three years in prison or fined up to Won30m.
The legislation has sparked heated debate in South Korea, with opposition parties boycotting the parliamentary vote and a majority of south Koreans disapproving of the moon administration’s move to restrict the activities of North Korean defectors, Deutsche Welle reported.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said in an interview with the American media that the ruling party has promoted the legislation more than 10 times since 2008 to ensure the safety of citizens living near the 38th Parallel. Kang kyung-wha said north Korean defectors fired anti-aircraft guns in response to leaflets they had sent to the North in 2014. She said border residents have demanded that the defectors stop distributing leaflets to the North.
According to Chung Lee-Wai, assistant lecturer in global Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Academy of Social Sciences, moon jae-in’s government now has a majority in the National Assembly. With only two-thirds of the votes, he has grasped the governing advantage and pushed forward the bill. Mr. Chung said the moon administration’s legislation was more of a bet on improving relations with the North, especially the recent tensions between the two koreas. In June, Kim ordered the bombing of the Inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong.
The legislation has been criticized by north Korean defectors and domestic opposition groups as a crackdown on freedom of expression. Chung said Moon is notorious for ignoring opposition voices and promoting diplomacy between the two Koreas in order to repair relations with Pyongyang.
“Moon jae-in is paying a price for the legislation,” Zhong said. “As for whether the price is worth it, he believes it depends on whether the relations between the ROK and the DPRK are stable and improving in the next one to two years. If the policy works, the people will feel better about the DPRK and feel safe, and the Blue House may be recognized.” If North Korea doesn’t buy it, Mr. Moon’s bet could face a bigger political price.
North Korean defectors have criticized the legislation as an attempt to curry favor with Kim Jong UN, silence domestic voices, disregard for civil liberties and acquiesce to the North’s authoritarian regime. Park Sang-hak, chairman of Fighters For A Free North Korea, an activist group For North Korean defectors, was quoted by VOA as saying the legislation disappointed A crowd of Defectors, adding that questions would be raised about south Korea’s genuine commitment to democracy. Mr Park said they had risked their lives to seek freedom in the South, but this time he was not sure whether Seoul or Pyongyang had enacted the law.
Park’s organization regularly sends leaflets into North Korea that are banned by north Korea, such as the 2017 murder of Kim Jong Nam, Kim Jong UN’s half-brother, on suspicion of being ordered by Pyongyang. He said the purpose of the leaflets was to tell the North Korean people that the Kim dynasty is cruel and inhuman.
In the past, many fled to South Korea by north Korea “defectors”, after stability to the north Korean people in order to reveal the regime’s authoritarian rule, with helium balloon store flyers against north Korea, the north Korean state television’s memory card, Korean dramas, Korean pop songs, the bible, a small amount of food and currency, through wind wafted to the north of the “38th parallel”, also some people use flyers empty bottles at the seaside, want information to drift to the north.
In 2018, the heads of state of Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to reduce mutual hostility. Still, groups of defectors have circulated material against the North, and in June Kim Yo-Jong, Mr. Kim’s sister, called on the South to crack down on defectors and lambasted them as “human scum.”
Recent Comments