ROK and Inter-Korean relations April 2004

ROK and Inter-Korean relations

April 2004

Repeal of Security Law Demanded
Pyongyang, April 27 (KCNA) -- The "Security Law" in south Korea is a fascist law against democracy and human rights dating back to the old era and an anti-reunification law diametrically running counter to the era after the publication of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration, says Minju Joson today in a signed commentary
NK Leader to Be Invited to Pusan APEC
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's possible visit to South Korea is drawing attention as Pusan was officially confirmed on Tuesday as the host city of next year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Pusan, the second-largest city in the South, has earlier said that it would invite the reclusive North Korean leader should it be chosen to host the international conference. ``The municipal government successfully held the 2002 Pusan Asian Games due to the presence of the North Korean team,'' a Pusan city official said. ``We'll push for Kim's participation in close cooperation with the central government and other APEC member countries.''
Free North Korea' Aims to Promote Democracy in North
Kim Tae-jong Staff Reporter ``For freedom, democracy and reunification'' is the catchphrase repeated at each broadcast of a recently opened Internet-based radio program in North Korea. Different from other radio and television programs addressing the issues related to our northern neighbors, it is the first program made by North Korean defectors living in the South. The anti-Pyongyang program Free North Korea Broadcasting (www.freenk.net) was organized by some 20 defectors early this year and went on air for the first time on April 20.
Two Koreas Agree to Conduct Surveys for Flood Control
M A Cho 14 April 2004 South and North Korea agreed Saturday to carry out field surveys of a border river in an effort to control flooding. Onsite surveys of the Imjin River, to be carried out separately by the South and North, will begin late this month or early in May, South Korean officials said.
Park Geun Hye and National Security Law
It is most welcome when Grand National Party (GNP) Chairwoman Park Geun Hye says "there's room for thinking about adjustments to the National Security Law (NSL)." The GNP has long been obstinate about the NSL issue, so her comments are very much an attitude conversion. There should be no need to re-emphasize how the NSL should be fixed. It is a remnant of the Cold War, international human rights groups have long said it should be abolished, and it is a textbook example of laws that work against human rights.
Delegation of South Korean Red Cross Visits C.C., Red Cross Society of DPRK
Pyongyang, April 21 (KCNA) -- A delegation of the south Korean Red Cross led by its President Ri Yun Gu visited the Central Committee of the Red Cross Society of the DPRK today. Jang Jae On, chairman of the Central Committee of the Red Cross Society of the DPRK, and officials concerned greeted and conversed with the members of the delegation with compatriotic feelings.
Minju Joson on Results of S. Korean "National Assembly Election"
Pyongyang, April 20 (KCNA) -- The Uri Party with progress and reforms as its political idea gained a majority of the "National Assembly" seats while the Grand National Party and other conservative forces suffered a shameful defeat in the general election to the 17th "National Assembly" in south Korea. Commenting on this, a news analyst of Minju Joson today says this is a victory of democratic patriotic forces over the fascist treacherous forces.
Field Mobile Exercise to Be Staged in S. Korea
Pyongyang, April 10 (KCNA) -- The south Korean army announced that it would start a field mobile exercise between Kimpho and the Han River from 9 p.m. on April 9, according to the south Korean KBS. Helicopters will fly and blank shells be fired during the exercise, it reported.
New era heralded in Seoul as voters avenge president
Jonathan Watts, east Asia correspondent Friday April 16, 2004 The Guardian South Korea's impeached president, Roh Moo-hyun, appeared to have been vindicated in his conciliatory policies on North Korea and trade unions last night as the public voted in the country's most left-leaning parliament for more than 40 years.
There has also been a marked shift in attitudes towards North Korea. Mr Roh's policy of reaching out to his country's impoverished neighbour is now so widely accepted that even the GNP - which formerly played up people's suspicions about the north to win votes - campaigned on a "flexible" and "future- oriented" policy towards Pyongyang.
Repatriation of Remaining Unconverted Long-Term Prisoners to North Demanded
Pyongyang, April 8 (KCNA) -- Jong Sun Dok, former unconverted long-term prisoner in south Korea, died to the nation's sorrow before seeing the day of national reunification which she desired so much to see in her lifetime. It was a murder as it was an inevitable product of the crime against humanity. Minju Joson today says this in a signed commentary.
Leftist Victory Spells Trouble for South Korea
by Jae Hoon Shim The Asian Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2004 http://www.awsj.com.hk SEOUL - In a stunning change in the political landscape here, a small group of left-wing militants has gained SEATS in South Korea's parliament for the first time in half a century. The Uri Party's victory in Thursday's National Assembly elections - tripling its strength to seize 152 seats in the 299- member parliament - has worrying implications for everything from policy toward Pyongyang
Brent Choi S.Korea after the Election
North Korea Specialist The Joongang Daily Sun-wha-Dong 7 Joong Ku Seoul 100-759 Korea Ph:(822) 751-5409 Fax: (822) 751-5420 brent1@joongang.co.kr April 20, 2004
So it has finally come to this. The recent General Election in South Korea on April 15 made its grand finale by reshuffling 70 percent of the total 299-seat National Assembly members. That's a lot compared to the past reshuffle that never went above 40-50 percent rate change.
An aide's 'joke' snarls reunion in North Korea
The Unification Ministry said it is looking further into what it believes was a "joking comment" by a junior ministry official at North Korea's Mount Geumgang resort on Friday. The junior officer was commenting to a North Korean on a slogan carved into a rock in the mountain resort calling Kim Jong-il, the North's leader, as a man "sent from heaven." Written in the Korean alphabet, however, the word for "heaven" could also refer to a Chinese character meaning an outcast.
Jailed Song Victim of Bad Timing
By Mike Weisbart Korea Times Political Columnist
Song Du-yul could not have picked a worse time to come back to Korea. Some say he shouldn't have come back at all. Song is the Korean sociology professor who returned to Seoul late last year after more than 3 decades of exile in Germany. He is currently languishing in jail after being convicted last week of violating the country's anti-communist National Security Law.
As ridiculous as it might appear to non-Koreans, both of these acts are still illegal here in democratic and free South Korea. [Human rights]
Early Return of Unconverted Long-Term Prisoners Demanded
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- The Central Committee of the DPRK Red Cross Society strongly called for the earliest possible return of Jong Sun Dok, an aged woman, and other unconverted long-term prisoners who demand their repatriation to the DPRK from the compatriotic and humanitarian stand. A spokesman for the central committee in a statement to the press Thursday said:
She is, however, left without care in south Korea, though she is waiting for the hour of death, utterly forsaken. This is an instance proving that south Korea under U.S. domination is the worst barren land of human rights where elementary freedom and right of humanity are ruthlessly trampled upon. The United States and the rightist conservative forces of south Korea should stop crying over others' "human right issue" and solve their own serious human rights problems including the issue of unconverted long-term prisoners. [Chung Soon-duk] [Human rights]
Union leaders arrested on election law charges
Enforcing Korea's stringent election laws, police yesterday arrested leaders of the Korea Teachers and Educational Workers Union for pub- licly supporting a political party, and sought arrest warrants for nine leaders of a civil servants' union. [Human rights]
Last communist rebel dies in South Korea, amid North's demand for her return
Fri Apr 2, 5:01 AM ET SANG-HUN CHOE
Last Communist Rebel Dies in South Korea
Last Communist Rebel Dies in South Korea By SANG-HUN CHOE Associated Press Writer Apr 2, 3:36 AM EST SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Chung Soon-duk, whose bloody capture in 1963 marked the end of South Korea's prolonged battles against communist guerrillas, died this week. She was 71. Chung died Thursday night of a heart attack in a hospital west of Seoul, her advocacy group said in a statement Friday. She had been in a coma for two weeks after suffering a stroke last month. Chung, the wife of a peasant farmer, followed her husband into the Chiri Mountains in southwestern South Korea, to become a communist guerrilla shortly after the Korean War broke out with North Korea's invasion of the South in June 1950. The couple were among thousands of leftist farmers who believed in North Korea's promised "liberation" from landlords and took up arms in Chiri's thick forests and jagged ravines. They kept fighting, long after North Korean troops retreated and even after the Korean War ended in 1953 with an uneasy truce. Her husband died in battle in 1952. By 1955, most of the Chiri Mountain guerrillas had been killed or surrendered, but Chung and others continued raiding police stations and villages, even though they had no communication with North Korea. Chung's life on the run ended in a shootout with police on Nov. 12, 1963. "Disoriented communist bandit caught!" read headlines at the time. Chung was wounded in the gunbattle and lost her right leg. With her arrest, South Korea finally declared an end to drawn-out operations against peasant "partisans" who fought the pro-U.S. government in the South.
Last Ex-North Korean Guerilla in South Dies
After the war, aged 18, she joined her husband, who was waging a guerilla campaign in Mount Jiri in southern South Korea. She was captured in 1963. Believed to be the last surviving North Korean guerilla in South Korea, Chong was released from prison in 1985
Grand Chorus of Students in Pyongyang Held
North Side's Delegation Leaves
Pyongyang, March 31 (KCNA) -- A delegation of the north side led by An Kyong Ho, director of the Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, left here today to participate in an inter-Korean meeting for reunification to be held in Longjin, China, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Pyongyang visit of Rev. Mun Ik Hwan whose nickname was Late Spring.
South Korean Assembly Impeaches President Roh Moo Hyun
North, South Agree to Hold Joint Civic Events to Celebrate June 15 Declaration
S. Korean Prosecution Proposes 15-Year Prison Term for Korean-German Scholar on Spying for North
Pyongyang Condemns Judgment as "Criminal Act" Against National Reconciliation [Human rights] [National Security Law]
University Students of North and South Met at Mt. Kumgang Resort
"We Are One," Let Us Be Leaders in "June 15" Era!
Korea Suspends Reunion Program
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter North Korea on Friday cancelled the second-day session for inter-Korean family reunions at Mt. Kumkang, demanding an apology for a South Korean official who allegedly slighted the Pyongyang leadership
S. Koreans to Return From Separated Family Reunions Wednesday
Sunshine Policy Still Valid: Kim Dae-jung
Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung said Friday that his "sunshine" policy of engaging North Korea is still valid and will help resolve tension over the North's nuclear arms program. In an interview with Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper, Kim said that there is no alternative to the engagement policy, because South Korea has no financial capacity to cover the huge unification cost in case the communist North suddenly collapses.
Overview of Intra-Korean Exchanges & Cooperation for February 2004
Why Western Teachers Are Revered Here
By Shin Chul-ho Life has forced me to experience several jobs but, above all, I have engaged in teaching jobs for a comparatively long time. Through the ups and downs of my teaching jobs, I learned of the various facets of the Korean education system. One of them is the adulating attitude of Korean students toward native speakers from the United States, Canada, Australia, and other English- speaking countries.
Separated Families and Relatives Meet
Mt. Kumgang Resort, March 30 (KCNA) -- The 9th reunion of separated families and relatives began at Mt. Kumgang Resort. Separated families and relatives of the north side had a collective meeting with those of the south side yesterday according to the agreement between the Red Cross organizations of both sides
Outdated Calls for Coup d'etat
Ewha Women's University professor of public administration Kim Yong Seo's suggestion the country needs a military coup d'etat, made while speaking as a guest at a breakfast lecture, are utterly hard to believe, especially since they come from a professor, someone supposed to be an intellectual. According to Kim, the government of Roh Moo Hyun is a leftist regime, and "no other method than military coup d'etat exists for overthrowing a leftist regime established through a proper process and restoring the liberal democratic system."
German scholar gets 7 years for aiding the North
Song Du-yul, the Korean-German scholar indicted for aiding North Korea in violation of the National Security Law, was sentenced yesterday in Seoul District Court to seven years in prison. As a young man, Mr. Song fled to Germany in 1967 after opposing the military regime of Park Chung Hee. He later became a sociology professor at the University of Muenster and a German citizen. Late last year, when Mr. Song returned to Korea with his wife and two sons for the first time in 36 years, prosecutors detained and indicted him. Charged with having another identity as Kim Chul- su, a high-ranking official in the Workers' Party of North Korea, the prosecutors said Mr. Song had long engaged in pro-North activities through his academic work. [Song Du-yul] [National Security Law] [Human rights]
Kim Jong-il said to see "crisis"
Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader, is closely following what he regards as "a serious crisis" in South Korea, a Seoul government official said yesterday.
Withdrawal of Penalty Demanded for Korean Social Scientist in Germany Demanded
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- The Federation of Koreans in Australia issued a statement on Mar. 23 denouncing the south Korean authorities for demanding penalty for Prof. Song Tu Ryul, a Korean social scientist in Germany. Accusing the south Korean authorities of proposing 15 years in prison for Song after investigating and persecuting him for several months on the charge of being "pro-north" though he went to south Korea at the invitation of the Society for Commemorating the Movement for Democracy, the statement said: [Song Du-yul] [National Security Law] [Human rights]
Roh's Popularity Continues to Surge
By Yoon Won-sup Staff Reporter President Roh Moo-hyun has continued to enjoy rising popularity, prompted by the public opposition to National Assembly's unprecedented presidential impeachment.
S.Korea Jails Scholar for 7 Years for Aiding North
By REUTERS Published: March 30, 2004 Filed at 3:36 a.m. ET SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korea-born professor who returned home last year after nearly four decades exiled in Germany was jailed for seven years on Tuesday for working for communist North Korea, a court official said. Song Du-yul, a sociology professor who is now German citizen, was ruled to have engaged in pro-Pyongyang activities and to have been a ranking member of North Korea's ruling Workers Party. [Song Du-yul] [National Security Law] [Human rights]

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