Moon’s diplomacy tightens Moon’s diplomacy “letters of truth” from the South to Korea

Seoul, South Korea – “Is South Korea a dictatorship?” asked Park Sang-ha, the North Korean fugitive and leader of the Fighters, to North Korea, which regularly sends helium balloons loaded with leaflets north of the border. “Is it a free and democratic country?”

Park shipped 500,000 leaflets and 10 balloons loaded with $ 5,000 bills at the end of last month to North Korea. He says the North Koreans want to know the truth about the Kim Jong Un dictatorship and that the North Koreans want to rise up against their regime. The pamphlets criticize Kim’s dynastic rule. Dollar bills encourage people to pick up brochures.

Park has thrown such balloons 60 times in the last 10 or so years. Now the difference is that it is against the law – South Korean law.

“An exclusive ban is an evil law against the constitution,” Park told Al Jazeera.

Park balloon shots have often been involved in the media.

But in April he kept the locations of the events secret and sent balloons out of mobile balloons at night, fearing that the government would seize the South Korean authorities, which was slowing down its efforts.

On May 6, police searched his office and ordered an in-depth investigation.

Four days later when he appeared at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for questioning, he scolded the liberal government and explained what the propaganda pamphlets were.

“These are letters from deserters to our North Korean families. Letters of truth, freedom and love. And now we don’t even have permission to write letters?” Park said.

‘Anti-brochure law’

Throwing balloons to carry brochures, CDs, USBs and more to North Korea was banned in December 2020 with the amendment of the South Korean Relations Development Act.

Park faces a $ 27,000 fine and a three-year prison sentence if convicted now.

The Democratic Party and government officials justified the amendment on two counts.

First, the launch puts the lives of South Koreans living in border regions at risk – in 2014, North Korea trained machine guns with bullets landed in South Korea.

Second, the pamphlets hinder efforts to build peace with North Korea.

In milestones 2018 peaks South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un both agreed to stop all enemy action, including the scattering of leaflets.

Park Sang-hak continued its activities.

Leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, after balloon-covered threats in June last year, North Korea exploded an inter-Korean liaison office located on the other side of the North Korean border. The explosion was seen from the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Kim Yo Jong also weighed in after the Park’s April balloon launches.

“We consider the maneuvers performed man in the South it is a serious provocation against our state and will examine the corresponding actions, ”he mentioned in the state media.

Efforts to build peace

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has made peace building a pillar of his government’s agenda since he was first elected in 2017.

North Korea blasts its only newly-linked joint office after constantly threatening with balloon fire [File: KCNA via Reuters]

On May 10, he completed his fourth year in office, and left him last year to somehow improve on Korean issues.

That can only come with the help of the United States, and this week Moon will travel to the White House for a May 21 summit with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden.

Analysts hope that the Moon will focus on the return of the US and North Korea to the negotiating table.

“We will resume the dialogue between the two Koreas and the United States and North Korea,” Moon said.

He also responded to criticism of the law against triptychs.

“It is never desirable to slow down relations between Korea by violating agreements between Korea … The government has no choice but to strictly enforce the law,” he said.

Washington ended up recently Review its policy towards North Korea, explaining the greater emphasis on diplomacy.

The recent controversy surrounding the park and its presentations may capture something of Moon’s planet.

After the law was passed in December, human rights groups criticized the movement. Human Rights Watch argued that activities such as brochures were protected by Article 19 of the Declaration of Human Rights and other treaties ratified by South Korea.

Some experts suggest that special situations in South Korea should be better valued.

“From a foreign perspective, (the law) seems to be an over-regulation of freedom of expression and expression … but in the Korean peninsula context, it should be accepted in the interest of Korean exchange,” Professor Chae Jin-won, a Korean policy expert at Kyung Hee University, told Al Jazeera.

Balloons were once fired at the glare of the media, but the last event in the park happened last night to avoid detection. [FIle: Lee Jin-man/AP Photo]

Laws and debates could affect President Moon’s ability to leave the U.S. to reach North Korea and make room for President Moon’s commitment.

Last month, U.S. lawmakers convened a special commission to address freedom of expression in the Korean Peninsula, focusing on the “anti-brochure law”.

The online committee itself went down in politics, appointing President Moon as an authoritarian pro-North Korean, curtailing the rights of North Korean deserters in an attempt to release captives in their homeland.

“There are no more powerful North Koreans living in freedom in South Korea than reaching out to North Koreans living under the slavery of the Kim regime,” the North Korean Freedom Coalition told Suzanne Scholte.

Others argued this testimony and focused the actions of the balloon launchers themselves on political goals.

“By floating leaflets with journalists gathered around them, they can promote an image as an aggressive human rights defender for North Korea and receive funding for their work,” human rights lawyer Jeon Su-mi told the Conciliation and Peace Society.

Jeon suggested that North Koreans also have another access to foreign news from border towns, concluding that “sending leaflets does not seem to me to be an effective tool for promoting human rights in North Korea.”

Going to the radio

Rather than adopting a law like Park Sang-hak, some defecting North Korean activists have used other strategies.

Huh Kwang-il arrived in South Korea in 1995 after working as a dryer in Russia, where he learned more about the South and the outside world. He sent CDs and USBs to North Korea, but began shortwave broadcasts in March.

Last month to commemorate the third anniversary of the Panmunjom declaration between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, near the border town of Panmunjom that separates the two Koreas. The signs read: ‘Implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration and Resumption of Cooperation between Korea’ [FIle: Ahn Young-joon/Pool via Reuters]

“Our goal is to awaken the North Koreans and promote their human rights so that they can finally claim ownership of their sovereignty,” Huh told Al Jazeera.

Huh criticized the South Korean president for imposing a law that restricts his freedom of expression as he feels it hinders the human rights of others and the “right to know” of North Koreans.

“By crushing the North Koreans, (the South Korean government) becomes like a dictatorship, and in the end, the victims are North Koreans,” he said.

Still, the Moon’s administration is determined to limit the activities of North Korean NGOs with the intention of getting North Korea into the dark of its mandate.

Upon confirmation on May 7, Moon, the candidate for prime minister, reaffirmed the government’s stance, saying the leaflets “threaten the security of our people” and violate the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration.

Fighters for the North Korea Free Park have chosen to denounce the law as unconstitutional and have filed a criminal complaint against Moon.

Huh aims to continue broadcasting.

“It is a time-honored mission for North Korean refugees. It can’t be stopped, ”Huh said.