ROK and Inter-Korean relations February 2004

ROK and Inter-Korean relations

February 2004

Ex-president is called as spy funds witness
Former President Kim Young-sam will be called as a witness in a trial centering on the alleged misuse of spy agency funds for the then-ruling party's 1996 election campaign. Mr. Kim, who was president from 1993 to 1998, will be asked to appear at the court to testify on March 12. Kim Gi-seop, a former top spy agency official, said during the trial yesterday that the agency's money, estimated at 94 billion won ($117 million at the time), was used for the New Korea Party's election campaign.
Inter-Korean Working Contacts Held
Kaesong, February 26 (KCNA) -- The 9th north-south working contact for reconnecting the rail and road links and the 4th north-south working contact for cooperation on marine transportation were made in Kaesong from February 25 to 26
The North Korean Freedom Act
By Choi Yearn-hong Poet, Professor at University of Seoul WASHINTON, D.C._ I met an admirable man at the Hudson Institute. His name is Michael Horowitz, a lawyer trained at Yale Law School, worked for the Reagan White House, and wrote the North Korean Freedom Act of 2003, which is shelved in the US Congress right now.
Burned Temple to Be Restored on Mt. Kumgang
South and North Korea Buddhist groups will hold a ground-breaking ceremony to restore a temple on the North's scenic Mt. Kumgang in April, which was set aflame during the 1950-53 Korean War. The Shingye Temple was reduced to ashes in 1951 due to bombings by the U.S. military during the Korean War.
Many inter-Korean projects fail
Korea Herald 28 February 2004
About 65 percent of inter-Korean exchange projects pushed by South Korean municipalities failed to get approval from the central government or were canceled, a study released yesterday said.
Since the first summit between South and North Korean leaders in 2000, 28 municipal governments, including Seoul, have engaged in exchange programs or are planning to, Jo Gwang-je found in his Konkuk University doctoral thesis. Those municipalities proposed 48 cross-border exchange projects, of which 10 failed to pass central government screening, he found. In addition, 21 authorized projects were canceled due to various difficulties.
Koreans toast wine over health benefits
Imports of wine surged last year as demand was sparked by research studies that showed drinking a moderate amount may prevent heart ailments. The Korea Customs Office reported yesterday that Korea imported $45.8 million worth of wine last year, up 56 percent from the previous year. Wine imports from Chile rose by 148 percent, Australia by 125 percent. Because of lower prices, they did better than French wine, which dropped below 50 percent of Korea's wine market for the first time in two years. Korea imported $880,000 worth of vodka, up 32 percent compared with the previous year. Cognac imports rose by 17 percent. Brandy imports stood at $1 million, down 8 percent from the previous year. Whisky imports stood at $254 million in 2003, up 1 percent over the previous year.
U.S. human rights report cites Korea's security Law
The United States has raised concerns over South Korea's National Security Law in its annual human rights report, citing that a number of persons may have been victims of the statute's vagueness.
2 Koreas to march together in Athens
The two Koreas have agreed to march together at the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics in August, representatives of the two countries' Olympic committees said yesterday. The two countries also promised to send a unified team to the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.
North-South Exhibition Held
North-South Symposium Held
Two Koreas Agree to Joint March for Athens Olympics
Song defense team queries Security Act
Defense attorneys of Song Du-yul, a Korean-born German scholar being tried on charges of violating the National Security Act, filed a request for constitutionality review of a clause in the act. The act states that a person who has served in an anti-state organization as an executive or in a leadership post should be sentenced to death, lifetime imprisonment, or imprisonment for more than five years. Mr. Song is alleged to have served in the North Korean Politburo. Mr. Song's lawyers said the clause is ambiguously worded because it fails to identify what precisely should be regarded as an executive or a leadership post. The attorneys argued that the clause violates the constitution's principle that crime must be defined. Song's defense thus requested the Seoul Central District Court to ask the Constitutional Court for a review. 2004.02.25 [Human rights][National Security Law]
South Side's Delegation Here
Pyongyang, February 24 (KCNA) -- The south side's delegation led by Kang Man Gil, president of Sangji University, arrived here Tuesday to participate in the north-south symposium on illegal designation of the East Sea of Korea as Japanese Sea and the north-south joint exhibition to urge Japan to return cultural relics plundered by the Japanese imperialists. The delegation was greeted at the airport by Ho Jong Ho, chairman of the History Society of the DPRK, and other officials concerned.
Park Gen-hye Is People's Choice for GNP Top Post
[Park Chung-hee]
KOREAS TO MARCH TOGETHER IN ATHENS
February 25, 2004 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 7:25 a.m. ET ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Olympic athletes from North and South Korea will march together during the opening ceremony in Athens and field a unified team for the Beijing Games in 2008. Jo Sang Nam, the head of North Korea's Olympic committee said Wednesday that there was not enough time remaining before the Athens games begin Aug. 13 for North and South Korea to form a joint team for the Athens Games. ``We make the common march between North and South and then we will start more (talks) in the future for the unified team for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games,'' he told The Associated Press.
Renowned map on display
This old map of Korea went on public display yesterday until March 20 at Seoul's Sungshin Women's University. Produced by cartographer Kim Jeong-ho in the 1860s, it is considered highly accurate. By Shin Dong- yeun [photo]
City plan to move Admiral Yi prompts backlash from citizens
17 Arrested for Smuggling North Korean Drug
By Byun Duk-kun Staff Reporter The police on Monday arrested 17 people suspected of smuggling more than 5 kilograms of drugs that originated in North Korea. The South Korean drug dealer, Lee, allegedly bought 5.4 kilograms of the illegal drug from a 40-year-old Korean-Chinese man, identified by his surname Lee, in China
Park Viewed to Be Next GNP Leader
By Yoo Dong-ho Staff Reporter Following Grand National Party chairman Choe Byung-yul's expression of intention to step down, Rep. Park Geun-hye, daughter of late President Park Chung-hee, is seeing her political stock rising for interim leader of the main opposition party.
Seoul to Present NK With Specific Rewards
By Ryu Jin_ Staff Reporter During next week's six-party nuclear talks, South Korea will present more concrete measures to reward North Korea if it is wiling to declare its intention to freeze of nuclear programs, a senior government official said on Friday.
`Silmido' Attacked as Pro-NK
Blockbuster movies ``Taegukgi'' and ``Silmido'' were accused of positively portraying North Korea during a National Assembly interpellation session on Thursday. ``One of the first scenes in `Taegukgi' shows military policemen conscripting students as soldiers against their will, which is not only factually erroneous but also damages the legitimacy of our armed forces,'' Rep. Kim Yong-kyun of the opposition Grand National Party said. ``Taegukgi,'' which tells the tragic story of two brothers fighting in the 1950-1953 Korean War, has attracted huge audiences since its release earlier this month. Kim claimed that the movie also omits vital historical details regarding massacres of civilians by the North Korean Army. ``Tens of thousands of viewers are being brainwashed into believing that it was not the communists but our army who was to blame for the atrocities,'' he said.
Silmido' makes box office history
About one out of every five Koreans has seen the domestic action film "Silmido" since it opened on Christmas Eve. As of noon yesterday, more than 10 million tickets for the movie had been sold, setting a record, said Cinema Service, the movie's distributor [Unit 684]
Investigators Uncover Additional W10 Bil. in Ex-President Chun's Secret Funds
By Na Jeong-ju Staff Reporter Investigators on Thursday questioned former President Chun Doo-hwan at his home in Yonhi-dong, western Seoul about the secret funds he built up during his presidency in the 1980s.
Silmido Attracts 10 Million Moviegoers
[Unit 684]_ By Kim Tae-jong ``Silmido,'' a film depicting an aborted government scheme to assassinate North Korea's leader in the late 1960s, on Thursday reached the 10-million-viewer mark for the first time in the Korean film history.
Change of Time Catches Up With `Choetler'
By Ryu Jin_ Staff Reporter Opposition leader Choe Byung-yul is facing the biggest crisis of his 20- year political career as he was virtually left out of his party's nomination for the April general elections on Wednesday. Choe has been known to be a man of charismatic leadership, exemplified by his nickname ``Choetler'' after the German dictator Adolf Hitler.
Two Koreas to Hold Family Reunion in N. Korea Next Month
German Doctor Plans Anti-N. Korean Protest Ahead of 6-Party Talks
Norbert Vollertsen said the anti-North Korean protest will be staged at the Korean border village of Panmunjom ahead of a new round of six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, scheduled to open in Beijing on Feb. 25.
Seoul offers aid to North for nuclear freeze
[Aid weapon] In exchange for a verifiable freeze of North Korea's nuclear program, the South Korean government is prepared to provide energy aid and, gradually, security assurances to the North, a senior government official said yesterday. The official stressed that the freeze must ultimately lead to the dismantling of Pyeongyang's effort to build nuclear arms. _ Under the plan, the South Korean government intends to propose a modified three-step process to resolve the nuclear standoff at the upcoming six-party talks in Beijing on Feb. 25
(No mention of HEU)
Seoul to Bring Back NK Defector With Dad's Ashes_
By Ryu Jin_ Staff Reporter A North Korean defector in China will likely come to Seoul as early as next week with the remains of her father, who is believed to be a former South Korean prisoner of war (POW), according to sources on Wednesday. ``She is at a safe place under our (government's) custody,'' a reliable diplomatic source here said. ``I think it would be somewhat difficult to bring them within the week.'' The 48-year-old woman, known only by her family name Paek, was able to leave the North in April 2002, as her father, who died in 1997 at 69, requested in his will that he be buried in his homeland in South Korea. Several former South Korean POWs have come back home, fleeing the Stalinist North since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, but this is the first time someone will return at the request of a will.
Mil. Mobile Phones Wiretapped_
By Shim Jae-yun_ Staff Reporter The nation's three mobile phone companies have submitted details on nearly one million mobile phone calls to the prosecution and intelligence agencies. [human rights]
3 in 10 NK Defectors Work as Manual Laborers_
By Soh Ji-young_ Staff Reporter Three out of ten North Korean defectors were discovered to be engaged in manual labor after settling in South Korea, according to a report revealed on Tuesday. [Refugee reception]
Yi Sun-shin Statue to Be Moved to Nearby Park
7 Missing Men Confirmed as Agents of Unit 684 on Silmido
By Yoon Won-sup Seven men, who went missing in Okchon, North Chungchong Province 36 years ago, were recruited as agents of the special ``Unit 684'' established to assassinate former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung in the late 1960s, and four members of the unit were executed in 1972, the Defense Ministry said on Monday
Former Firing Squad Leader Admits Silmido Executions
[Unit 684] By Yoon Won-sup Four members of a commando group trained to assassinate former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung in the late 1960s were executed at an Air Force unit in Seoul in 1972, according to a former airman on Monday.
NGOs Ask for Role in Nuke Talks
Several civic groups said Saturday they have asked foreign ministry officials to consult with them before the new round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program later this month. The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and other civic organizations recently sent a letter to Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soohyuck, the country's chief delegate to the talks, asking for discussions with ministry officials on the country's role at the negotiations scheduled to begin Feb. 25, they said. "The government does not have the initiative in the (multilateral) diplomacy on the North Korean nuclear program," the civic groups said in the letter. "We request Deputy Minister Lee to meet us so we can urge (South Korean officials) to play an active role in mediating the Korean Peninsula issue as a directly concerned party," they said. The proposal is the first attempt by domestic civic groups to voice their opinion regarding the multilateral nuclear talks.
SOUTH KOREAN MOVIE UNLOCKS DOOR ON A ONCE-SECRET PAST
[Unit 684] By NORIMITSU ONISHI Published: February 15, 2004 Until three years ago, South Korea denied that it had ever sent spies against North Korea, unwilling to admit that it used the same tactics that the North did. But with improving relations with North Korea and public outcries from former spies, South Korea has acknowledged them and begun compensating them and their relatives. No official data exist. But according to lawmakers who have pushed for compensation for the former spies, more than 7,700 men crossed the border on secret missions from 1953 to 1972. About 5,300 are believed not to have made it back.
The odyssey of Hwang Jang-yop
Seoul Proposes Prompt S-N Generals' Talks
Seoul Promotes S-N Research Cooperation
German academic was key man, says top North Korean defector
In the most eagerly awaited trial sessions in the case of Song Du-yul, a Korean-German sociologist indicted for violating the National Security Law, a high-profile North Korean defector confronted Mr. Song in the courtroom and reportedly claimed the academic was a member of the North Korean Workers' Party. [Human rights] [Hwang Jang-yop]
Judges seek to verify Song case evidence
The authenticity of key evidence submitted by the prosecution in a case against Song Du-yul, a Korean-born German scholar accused of serving in North Korea's Politburo, will be put under judicial review, the Seoul District Court said yesterday. The prosecutors have presented a National Intelligence Service file recording Mr. Song's activities in Germany as a ground of its allegation against Mr. Song. The documents suggest Mr. Song had sent eight letters pledging his loyalty to the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung. An informant provided the reports on Mr. Song's alleged pro-Pyeongyang activities to the National Intelligence Service, the prosecution has said. Mr. Song's attorney has raised a possibility that the file could have been altered before it was given to the intelligence agency.. 2004.02.10 [human rights]
Private Inter-Korean Exchanges Get Off to Shaky Start
Nation Shaken by Gruesome Murder Cases
By Soh Ji-young Staff Reporter A string of missing person stories which meet tragic ends are being reported across the country, baffling authorities and driving people into growing panic and fear. On Sunday
``As more people are exposed to violent movies and are pressured by economic difficulties, crimes targeting the weak are being used to vent out their anger,'' Yonsei psychology professor Lee Hoon-gu said.
Assembly Passes Law on Ethnic Koreans Abroad
[Diaspora]
Court Allows Divorce of NK Defector
A Seoul Court on Monday allowed a North Korean defector to divorce her husband in the North so that she can marry a South Korean man. It is the first time that a North Korean defector has been allowed to divorce a spouse living in the communist state and paves the way for other defectors seeking to start new families here. The Seoul Family Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, identified by the last name Oh, approving the divorce application she filed against her husband and granting her custody of her children. ``Marriages conducted in North Korea are still valid in the South as the Constitution also considers North Koreans as people belonging to the Republic of Korea,?? the court said.
Roh Courts Former President's Top Aide on North Korea
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter Lim Dong-won, former unification minister, is tipped as the new senior vice president of the Advisory Council on Democratic and Peaceful Unification (ACDPU), a presidential advisory group on North Korean affairs.
North Side's Delegation to North-South Ministerial Talks Returns
`Silmido' Tops 9 Mil. Viewers at Box Office
[Unit 684]
YS' Silence Keeps Nation on Edge
By Oh Young-jin Staff Reporter
Former President Kim Young-sam on Sunday said very little for the second day following a bombshell revelation by his former aide. Calls to his residence in Sangdo-dong, southern Seoul, went unanswered, and the former president didn't show up at a gymnasium where he often plays badminton with his neighbors. Rep. Park Jong-ung of the opposition Grand National Party (GNP), who acts as Kim's unofficial spokesman, has been unable to talk with him since Friday, according to Park's associates. They said that Kim may be trying to get over the shock he suffered from Rep. Kang Sam-jae's disclosure that Kim gave him 94 billion won ahead of the 1996 general elections, or he might be seeking a political angle to soften public anger directed at him after the revelation
Kim Young-sam Faces Probe Diversion of National Budget Should Not Be Tolerated
Former President Kim Young-sam is likely to face an investigation over the nature of slush funds which he was found to have delivered to his confidante during the general elections in 1996. Kang Sam-jae, a five-term lawmaker of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), made a bombshell statement in a trial at the Seoul Appellate Court Friday saying Kim gave him 94 billion won at his office in Chong Wa Dae to use for their party's election funds. At the time, Kang served as secretary-general of the then-ruling New Korea Party (NKP), the predecessor of the GNP. The dirty money was alleged to be part of the budget for the state spy agency, the National Security Planning (NSP), now the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Pyongyang Appeals Koreans to Find Way to Reunification Under Banner of "Korean- Nation-Is-No.1" Spirit
Joint Meeting of DPRK Government, Political Parties and Organizations Held
Korea Commemorates 10th Anniversary of Death of Rev. Mun Ik Hwan
Various memorial events were held in South Korea on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the death of Rev. Mun Ik Hwan, a South Korean reunification activist.
A North Korean delegation attended a series of events held in South Korea. It was the first time that the North side attended a memorial ceremony of a South Korean figure held in South Korea.
Let's Open New Phase in Independent Reunification by National Cooperation
Civil level exchanges between North and South to continue this year
Seoul, Pyeongyang say their generals will talk
In appeal of his conviction, a politician says funds came from former President
In a hearing on his appeal of a conviction for diverting government funds to election purposes in 1996, a Grand National Party legislator told the Seoul High Court that the funds in question came from President Kim Young-sam. _ Representative Kang Sam-jae of the Grand National Party was convicted last year of diverting funds from Korea's intelligence agency, then called the Agency for National Security Planning, to the campaign coffers of the New Korea Party of President Kim. _ That party later became the Grand National Party. _ After Mr. Kang's testimony, the court said it would call the former president to testify at the next hearing, on Mar. 12. The court can issue a subphena to compel Mr. Kim's testimony._ In 1997, charges began to surface that the spy agency had given 94 billion won, $117 million at the time, from its budget to fund the April 1996 legislative election campaigns of the president's party._
Military Admits `Silmido Unit' for First Time
[Unit 684] [Assassination]
Koreas Agree to Open Senior Military to Military Dialog
North lashes Roh, citing dependency upon U.S.
A representative of North Korea unleashed a fierce verbal attack yesterday against the Roh administration's North Korea policy and alliance with the United States in a keynote address at the opening of inter-ministerial talks in Seoul.
Mr. Kim also pointed to the slow progress of economic exchanges. "Over the past one year, there was not a single program that can deserve to be called cooperation between the two Koreas," he said.
Seoul to Promise Rewards in Return for NK Nuclear Freeze
Two Koreas to Open Inter-Korean Ministerial Talks
North Side's Delegation Leaves for Seoul
Two Koreas Open High-Level Talks in Upbeat Mood
Court Orders Disclosure of Files on KAL Bombing
[Terrorism]
A Seoul court on Tuesday ordered the release of the prosecution's files on the tragic crash of a Korean Air jet that claimed 115 lives in 1987. ..//.. For years, the investigation's findings of the 1987 incident had been under suspicion of being fabricated by state intelligence officials, based on the fact that there are differences in the agency's investigation results and the court ruling on the incident, and that the plane wreckage and the bodies and belongings of the victims had never been discovered.
A sample of the poison that Kim supposedly bit to commit suicide was also found stored in its original form.
Suspicions had also been raised that the alleged bombing, which occurred just weeks before the national presidential election, was staged to raise public support for the military-backed government by taking advantage of security concerns and anti-communist sentiment.
The KAL's Flight-858 Incident: What is Meant by It ,
Wesbite run by Families of KAL 858 victims
Reinvestigation of '87 KAL Incident Demanded in S.Korea
People's Korea Dec 1998
ANSP Under Investigation for Possible Role in KAL Flight 858 Bombing
Kim Myong Chol - December 8, 1998
Columnist flays Cardinal Kim
A prominent Korean journalist has sharply criticized the former head of Korea's Roman Catholic Church for recent expressions of concern over the direction of government policy, especially the Roh administration's increasingly assertive show of independence in its relations with the United States
The writer, Sohn Seok-chun, a columnist at the left-wing daily Hankyoreh, also denounced conservative national newspapers for what he called their exploitation of Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan's views. Mr. Sohn, through a Jan. 31 column at Ohmynews, the nation's largest Internet-only media, took issue with the cardinal's remarks that the nation's youth is being encouraged to adopt anti-U.S. attitudes and the government is embracing a pro-North Korean position. The columnist also lashed the Chosun Ilbo, Joong-Ang Ilbo and Dong-A Ilbo, which he called conservative and pro-American, for highlighting Mr. Kim's remarks. "To keep peace and protect human rights, which Cardinal Kim emphasizes, we should stop the U.S.'s unwarranted meddling in this land," Mr. Sohn said in the column. "To stop the possibility of an inter-Korean war, and to associate with the United States truly on an equal footing, the fledgling anti-American movement should expand even further.''.
Two Koreas Start Ministers' Meeting
Social and cultural exchange projects, such as how to jointly deal with China's attempts to incorporate the ancient kingdom Koguryo into part of its history, will also be brought up at the talks.
Kim Ryong-song, left, walks with Kim Gwang-lim
[photo]
`Silmido' and the Korean Film Industry
[Unit 684]
Is the Screen Quota Still Necessary?
``Silmido,?? the local blockbuster about death row inmates-turned-commandos, is rewriting the box-office history of the Korean film industry with the number of viewers expected to exceed an unprecedented 10 million in a couple of days.
The film is based on a secret government plan in the late 1960s to assassinate then-North Korean leader Kim Il-sung in retaliation for the failed assassination attempt of former South Korean President Park Chung-hee by 31 North Korean commandos on Jan. 21, 1968. It has already topped the previous record of 8.2 million on Saturday, set by ``Chingu (Friend)?? in 2001. The success of the movie is, no doubt, a testament to the success of the Korean film industry in that it overpowered such big Hollywood flicks like ``The Return of the King,?? the third and final installment of ``The Lord of the Rings?? trilogy during the prime season for moviegoers in the months of December and January.
Preview of "Silmido": Blowback on the Korean Peninsula
[Unit 684]
Film recalls bloody rebellion Trained to kill Kim Il Sung, cast-off team stormed Seoul
[Unit 684]
"Shilmido" Attracts Millions in 1 Week
[Unit 684]
Korea's Dirty Dozen
[Unit 684]
South-North Ministerial Meeting Opens
13th S-N Ministerial Talks to Open on Tuesday
`Silmido' Set to Break Box-Office Record
The movie portrays the deadly training process undertaken by a group of criminals who are supposed to kill the leader of North Korean, Kim Il-sung. The plot fails in the end.
The record of drawing 8-million moviegoers in such a short period is even more remarkable given that it had to compete head-to-head with the wildely successful fantasy epic ``The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Defectors from North will start broadcast
North Korean defectors will set up an Internet radio broadcasting station "Free North Korea Broadcasting" (www.freenk.com), which will begin service in April.
Catholic Leader Urges Reason Towards NK
SEOUL (Yonhap) _ Stephen Cardinal Kim Sou-whan, one of the most revered religious leaders in South Korea, voiced his concern Thursday that the country's youth are turning pro-North Korean.
"It's concerning that certain segments of the society are inciting anti-U.S. sentiment and that young people are generally turning anti-American and pro-North Korean", the cardinal was quoted as saying

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