ROK and Inter-Korean relations
November 2004
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Administration wants to send envoy to North
November 29, 2004 ? In an attempt to jump-start
the stalled talks on North Korea's nuclear
weapons program, and perhaps lay the groundwork
for another inter-Korean summit, Seoul intends
to send a special envoy to the North before the
end of the year, high-ranking administration
officials told the JoongAng Ilbo yesterday.
"The envoy, if he goes, will urge the North to
return to the six-nation talks as soon as
possible, and to resume inter-Korean talks,
which have been halted since August," a ranking
Roh Moo-hyun administration official said on
condition of anonymity. "We cannot rule out the
possibility that the envoy will also deliver Mr.
Roh's message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il
about holding a summit."
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S. Korea's "Cooperative Self-Reliant National
Defence Plan" under Fire
Pyongyang, November 26 (KCNA) -- The Defence
Ministry of south Korea on Nov. 18 made public a
"cooperative self-reliant national defence plan"
under which south Korea is required to undertake
among other things the military duty so far
performed by the U.S. imperialist aggression
troops in south Korea depending on their
"relocation", talking about "future-orientated
development of cooperation" with the U.S. A
spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland in a statement
Friday vehemently denounces the plan in the name
of the whole Korean nation, terming it a very
dangerous military step to put south Korea under
the tighter U.S. military control and step up
preparations for a war of aggression against the
north.
The south Korean warhawks are whetting their
swords for aggression to stifle the north by
force of arms, paying lip-service to inter-
Korean reconciliation and cooperation
[Military balance]
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Reunion Center Sees Progress
By Seo Dong-shin
Staff Reporter
Red Cross officials of South and North Korea
agreed on some of the details for setting up a
family reunion center at Mt. Kumgang, North
Korea, in a meeting held at the North's scenic
resort on Saturday, government officials said.
Under the agreement, a land and geological
survey for the site will be conducted from Dec.
10-21 for the construction of the reunion
center, which has been stalled despite the
conclusion of the implementation plans,
according to the (South) Korean National Red
Cross (KNRC).
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Pyongyang Senses `Good Signs' From Seoul: UN Official
By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
North Korean officials accepted South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's remarks
in the United States last week as being ``objective,'' regarding them as
``positive signs'' to help enable resumption of the six-party nuclear talks, a
top U.N. official said Thursday.
U.N. General Assembly President Jean Ping, who came here after a weeklong visit
to the North, said Pyongyang was well aware of the usefulness and importance of
the six-party process, but wants a better atmosphere so it can return to the
negotiation table.
``In short, what the North wants is the creation of a more favorable
atmosphere,'' Ping said at a press conference at South Korea's Foreign Affairs
and Trade Ministry.
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Roh Rebuffs Preparations for S-N Summit
By Shim Jae-yun
Staff Reporter
President Roh Moo-hyun said Thursday the
government has not been taking substantial steps
to prepare for the inter-Korean summit talks,
rebuffing allegations South and North Korea have
been seeking the summit in bids to find
a solution to the continuing impasse over the North's nuclear weapons program.
``It is not the time to resolve the (nuclear) issue through the inter-Korean
summit meeting,'' Roh said during a meeting with leaders of political parties
and major state organizations at Chong Wa Dae.
But he indicated there have been behind-the-scenes contacts between Seoul and
Pyongyang to promote a favorable atmosphere in the inter-Korean summit meeting.
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S. Korea Accepts N. Korea's Proposal for Red Cross Talks
[Yonhap,Nov.20th]
South Korea's Red Cross on Saturday accepted North Korea's proposal to hold working-level talks next week to discuss technical issues for building a permanent meeting place for separated families, the local relief group said. North Korea's Red Cross chief Chang Jae-on sent a letter to South Korea Friday, proposing that a working Red Cross meeting be held at the North's resort, Mount Geumggang, for three days starting on Thursday.
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Overview
Of Intra-Korean Exchanges & Cooperation
for
September 2004
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Red Cross to Discuss Technical Issues for Family Reunion Place
By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter
Working-level inter-Korean Red Cross talks will begin at Mt. Kumgang, North
Korea, Thursday for discussions on technical issues for building a permanent
meeting place for separated families, the Unification Ministry in Seoul said.
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Border Officers Face 'Light' Penalty Over Fence
Cuts
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
The Defense Ministry on Tuesday revealed
``light'' punishments will be imposed on the
Army officers responsible for last month's wire-
cutting episode along the border with North
Korea.
The disciplinary panel, which was held last
Saturday, decided to deliver a written rebuke to
the commander of an Army division in the area
and order the chief of a regiment to undergo a
weeklong reflection period according to Col. Ha
Du-chul, a spokesman of the Army.
The panel also ordered a one-tenth wage cut for
the coming three months for the chief of one
battalion and ordered a written rebuke of the
heads of a company and a platoon, Ha added.
``The measures were imposed for violating their
duties of diligence and
neglecting their commanding and supervising missions,'' Ha told reporters.
``These are categorized as light punishments.''
The military's disciplinary measures range from a written rebuke, to
confinement, a wage cut, suspension from office,
demotion and finally discharge. The first three
measures are considered ``light.''
Late last month, three holes were found in
barbed-wire fences in the midsection of the land
border, initially prompting speculation that
North Korean agents may have infiltrated the
South.
However, military's investigation team later
concluded the cuts were made by an unknown South
Korean civilian who attempted to defect to North
Korea.
yoonwonsup@koreatimes.co.kr
11-23-2004 16:56
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Aiding North Korean defectors becomes a business
November 22, 2004 ? In January last year, Jeon
Mi-ae, a 50-year-old North Korean woman, crossed
the frozen Tumen River into China, leaving her
homeland in search of a better life.
To make her escape less a matter of life and
death, Ms. Jeon paid a 200,000 won ($187) bribe
to North Korean border guards. They then told
her when and where to sneak across the border.
"I once hid inside a chicken coop to avoid a
round-up by Chinese police," Ms. Jeon said.
After months of hiding in China, Ms. Jeon found
a broker who promised to help her reach South
Korea.
After Ms. Jeon signed a contract promising to
pay 2.5 million won upon her arrival in the
South, the broker arranged a boat trip for her
from Nanjing to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.
In September last year, Ms. Jeon and 10 other
defectors began their trip, and she, along with
her companions, at last made it to Seoul in May.
Paying a broker is a common practice among North
Korean defectors in China who wish to come to
South Korea.
While some religious and human rights groups are
known to make travel arrangements for refugees
purely on humanitarian grounds, increasingly
those seeking asylum are becoming a commodity in
a profitable business, with the money coming
from the settlement subsidies the South Korean
government pays to newly arrived defectors
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Lim Dong-won to Head Sejong Institute
A top aide to former President Kim Dae-jung and
architect of the ``sunshine'' policy of engaging
North Korea has been named head of the Sejong
Institute, officials at the think tank said
Sunday.
Lim Dong-won, 71, will take over as chairman of
the Sejong Foundation, which owns and operates
the policy institute.
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Rights Panel to End 1st Mission
By Moon Gwang-lip
Staff Reporter
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea is
set to complete its three-year mission on Nov.
25. and will begin a new term soon to shed light
on other human rights infringement cases that
have been left in the shadow of past
dictatorships.
The first commission, inaugurated in November
2001, is considered to have played an active
role in raising the level of public awareness on
human rights issues. At the same time, it has
also been criticized for a lack of substantial
efforts to improve human rights conditions.
The best accomplishment of the commission,
according to civic groups and experts, is its
recommendation to the government to scrap the
National Security Law, a legacy of anti-
communism whose existence has been disputed amid
increasing inter-Korean trade and exchange.
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South Korea Weighs Allowing Once-Taboo Support for the North
Debate Reflects Division Over Detente
By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, November 22, 2004; Page A16
SEOUL -- Labeled a subversive and trailed for decades by secret agents, Soon Na
Chang, now a grandfatherly 72-year-old, has faced repeated arrests and years of
imprisonment in his homeland of South Korea. In a nation standing on the Cold
War's last frontier, his crimes ranked among the highest possible offenses:
publicly praising North Korea.
But with the pace of national reconciliation quickening between the two Koreas,
South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and his ruling Uri Party are pushing ahead
with plans to repeal the National Security Law, which since 1948 has prohibited
vocal support of North Korea as well as
unauthorized communication or visits there by
South Koreans.
Roh and his supporters say the law, long viewed
as the dam preventing the North's communist
ideology from washing over the Demilitarized
Zone, has become an outdated affront to
democracy and free speech.
[National Security Law]
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Is South ready for defectors?
The issue of North Korean defectors is gaining
more attention as other nations are showing
increased interest in the problem. Already, the
United States, China and Mongolia have proved
that they are ready to actively intervene.
Mongolia recently announced that it would not
repatriate North Korean defectors to China once
they enter the Mongolian territory. After the
passing of the North Korea Human Rights Act, the
U.S. Department of State is now considering
designating North Korean defectors as a
"Priority 2" group, which allows them to apply
for refugee status without a referral from the
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
We often hear that there are middlemen in China
that use North Korean defectors to make illegal
profits from the government aid given to
defectors. But it should not be used as an
excuse to neglect those who are desperate to
escape North Korea.
The government should have a clear understanding
that not everyone is being used by brokers. A
separate measure is necessary to regulate the
brokers instead, so that they may not get any
money that should go to the defectors.
The U.S. move to designate North Korean
defectors as a Priority 2 group means that the
United States is preparing for a possible mass
exodus from North Korea. Since the United States
intervenes in the defector issue in earnest,
Korea must establish a network of cooperation
with Washington. We are worried that the
government is taking the situation lightly,
while the United States is ready to intervene.
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NK Refugees Seek New Path to Seoul
By Reuben Staines
Staff Reporter
Mongolian Foreign Minister Munkh-Orgil Tsend
shone a ray of hope on the more than 100,000
North Korean refugees hiding out in China this
week when he said his government will grant
passage to all defectors who present themselves
at its borders.
But despite the bold offer, the refugees'
passage to South Korea, through Mongolia or
otherwise, still appears to be long and winding,
according to activists and experts in Seoul.
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NK Boat Intrudes Into Waters
A North Korean boat briefly violated the
disputed West Sea border with South Korea
Friday, the military said.
The wooden motorboat intruded 0.9 miles into
South Korean territorial waters at 1:40 p.m., as
it was drifting in the area due to a fuel
shortage and misjudgment of nautical routes, the
Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a news release.
The 0.5-ton boat returned to North Korean waters
after a South Korean navy boat
provided it with fuel and a compass, the office said. One North Korean man was
aboard the boat, it said.
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2 Koreas to Resume Red Cross Dialogue
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
Red Cross officials from the two Koreas will meet next Thursday at Mt. Kumgang
in the North to discuss installing a permanent meeting place on the scenic
mountain for separated families, southern Red Cross officials said Friday.
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Defense to cost 99 trillion won through 2008
November 19, 2004 ? The Defense Ministry said
yesterday that in order to comply with President
Roh Moo-hyun's self-reliant defense posture, it
would spend 99 trillion won ($92.5 billion)
between next year and 2008. This year's defense
budget is 18.9 trillion won.
With the money, the ministry is seeking to buy
sophisticated intelligence systems to boost its
capacity to detect the possibility of aggression
from North Korea.
Korea wants to buy navy destroyers equipped with
Aegis missile systems, aircraft with Airborne
Early Warning Systems, third generation Patriot
missiles and acquire command, control,
communications, computers and intelligence-
gathering gear, with satellites at the top of
the shopping list.
"Currently, we rely heavily on U.S. intelligence
when it comes to detecting any significant
movement by North Korean forces," said a defense
ministry official. "In light of the changing
nature of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, it's
necessary to enhance our own deterrent
capabilities."
[Military balance] [Friction]
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Pyeongyang regime is stable, says top aide on
North Korea
November 18, 2004 ? In testimony yesterday
before the National Assembly, Unification
Minister Chung Dong-young, South Korea's top
policymaker on North Korea, carefully dismissed
international media reports that Pyeongyang's
leadership might be undergoing an upheaval.
A Russian wire service reported Tuesday that
portraits of Kim Jong-il, the North Korean
leader, had been removed from public display.
The reports said pictures of Kim Il Sung, Mr.
Kim's father and the founder of the communist
country, were still in evidence, but that
likenesses of Kim Jong-il had been taken down.
"We need to do more work to see if the reports
are true," Mr. Chung told lawmakers at a hearing
on foreign and unification policy.
North Korean television broadcasts showed the
two portraits hanging side by side, Mr. Chung
said. "Kim Jong-il has been carrying out his job
normally until very recently," he said.
Video of Mr. Kim touring a North Korean military
base was broadcast yesterday on North Korean
state-run television.
South Korean intelligence officials expressed
skepticism that any missing portraits might be
connected with changes in North Korea's regime.
"If the portraits had been taken down everywhere
in the North, we would have known about it
beforehand," an intelligence official said.
Other analysts pointed out that in the early
1990s, the portraits of Mr. Kim had been taken
down at his own order in a show of respect for
his father. Mr. Kim reportedly said his
portraits should not be hung next to his
fathers' while the top leader was still alive.
Kim Il Sung died in 1994.
During his Assembly testimony, Mr. Chung also
said South Korea should change its views on the
North. "Taking into account the changed inter-
Korean environment after the summit [in June
2000], the 'main enemy' concept must be
changed," Mr. Chung said. "In the post Cold War
era, no country labels a particular nation as a
main enemy and develops its defense strategy
against it."
Main enemy is the term that South Korea has
employed in referring to the North in its
Defense white papers since 1994. A North Korean
envoy's threat in 1993 to make Seoul "a sea of
fire" prompted South Korea to label the North
the main enemy.
North Korea has strongly protested against the
use of the term.
Separately, the chairman of the Uri Party, Lee
Bu-young, told foreign correspondents in Seoul
that the Roh administration should be willing to
hold a summit with North Korea to resolve the
nuclear crisis, even if North Korean leader Kim
does not visit the South in return for the 2000
visit to Pyeongyang by then-President Kim Dae-
jung.
by Lee Young-jong, Ser Myo-ja
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Main Enemy' Haunts National Assembly Again
By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter
Grand National Party (GNP) lawmakers on Thursday grilled Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung over recent remarks that indicated he intends not to use the term ``main enemy'' to describe North Korea in the ministry's white paper scheduled to be published next year.
During a defense committee meeting at the National Assembly, Reps. Hwang Jin-ha and Song Young-sun of the opposition party said it was ``very regrettable'' that Yoon made the remarks as he is in charge of a government body that functions as the ``last bastion'' to protect the country from the North's military threat.
The conservative party members argued that the ministry should continue using the term as Pyongyang is still threatening Seoul with its missiles and nuclear arms.
But lawmakers of the ruling Uri Party, including Kim Sung-gon and Im Jong-in, refuted the GNP's idea for being reflective of a Cold War mentality, saying the communist country is South Korea's ``partner'' for ongoing exchange programs in addition to being a ``threat'' to Seoul's security.
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More Self-Reliant Defense Posture Envisioned
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
The Defense Ministry on Thursday unveiled an outline plan to move toward a more independent national defense in a bid to fill the possible security vacuum caused by the planned reduction in U.S. troops on the Korean peninsula.
``We decided to strengthen the role of South Korean military forces to defend our nation in the face of the reorganization of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK),'' Maj. Gen. Bang Hyo-bok, strategic policymaker at the ministry, said in a news briefing.
To this end, the South Korean armed forces will intensify their strategic capability to deter war by increasing the defense budget to 3.2 percent of the total gross domestic product from the current 2.8 percent by 2008 on a gradual basis. This will require about 99 trillion won ($92.5 billion) in the coming four years, according to Bang.
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NK Defectors Seeking to Move to US
Many Northerners Fail to Adjust to Capitalist Society in South
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
A growing number of North Korean defectors in the South prefer living in the
United States in the hope that the U.S. government will provide better working
conditions and settlement programs, after the U.S. Congress approved a North
Korean human rights bill in late September, government officials said
Wednesday.
According to the Ministry of Unification, 14 North Korean defectors have
emigrated to the U.S. since the mid-1990s and many are staying in Canada and
Mexico to seek political asylum in the U.S. after failing to readjust to South
Korea's capitalist culture.
The biggest reason for their departure to the U.S. comes from a
tougher-than-expected life in Seoul and the anticipation that they could
benefit from the U.S. government's efforts to improve the human rights
conditions of North Korean defectors.
Government officials said an unidentified number of North Korean defectors with
South Korean nationality are staying in third countries to enter the U.S. Most
of them defected to the South in the 1990s but failed to adapt, mainly due to
their misunderstanding of capitalist systems and ill treatment by South
Koreans, the officials said.
North Koreans who defected to the South are not eligible for political asylum
in the U.S., but most defectors enter the
country having no knowledge of the policy. This
year alone, several North Koreans were
repatriated to the South by the U.S. government,
sources said.
``Some defectors depart for the U.S. after
disposing of their financial assets provided by
the South Korean government for their
readjustment here,'' a source in the Unification
Ministry said. ``With the money, they stay in
Canada and Mexico, seeking opportunities to
enter the U.S. and seek asylum there.''
[Refugee reception]
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Police search for unionists
Police standing yesterday at the front gate of
Hanyang University with sheets of photos of
wanted members of the public servant's union.
[photo] [Human rights]
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Kim Dae-jung cuts overseas trip short
November 15, 2004 ? Former president Kim Dae-
jung arrived in Seoul yesterday in a wheelchair
after cutting short his trip to Europe and the
United States. Aides said the 78-year-old felt
too tired to continue.
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34 N. Korean Defectors Leave for Other Countries
SEOUL (Yonhap) - Thirty-four North Koreans who
defected to the South have left again for other
countries, expecting a better life, according to
a government report released Saturday.
The Unification Ministry report said that 14
North Korean defectors emigrated to the United
States, six to Japan, five to Argentina and the
remainder to other Asia-Pacific and South
American countries.
About 7,000 North Koreans have defected to South
Korea so far, according to the ministry, which
supervises North Korean defectors' readjustment
in the South.
The number of defection from North Korea jumped
when its economy hit bottom in the 1990s and
over 1,000 people have come to the South
annually since 2002. They enter South Korea
indirectly through third countries such as
China, Thailand,
Cambodia and Vietnam. The ministry said
defectors who saved money in the South began to
emigrate in the mid-1990s.
According to a survey of 100 defectors in
September by local daily Segye Times, 69 percent
said they prefer emigrating to Western countries
such as the United States, Canada and Australia
over staying in South Korea and 33 percent of
the respondents said they would return to North
Korea if they could.
North Korean defectors say they are constantly
faced with discrimination, regarded as second-
class citizens and have difficulty getting jobs.
11-14-2004 14:03
[Refugee reception] [PYR]
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Park Jie-won conviction set aside
November 13, 2004 ? A new trial was ordered
yesterday for Park Jie-won, the top aide to
former President Kim Dae-jung, who was convicted
of accepting bribes in connection with the 2000
inter-Korean summit and sentenced to 12 years in
prison.
The Supreme Court told the Seoul High Court that
Mr. Park must be retried because evidence used
to convict him could not be considered credible.
An effort by Mr. Park and his attorneys to
reverse the district court's verdict was turned
aside by the appellate court.
The former official was charged with taking 15
billion won ($13 million) from Hyundai Corp.
just before the June inter-Korean summit in 2000
in exchange for providing favors to the company.
Mr. Park's conviction was based on the
statements of Kim Yeong-wan, Mr. Park's slush
fund manager, and Lee Ik-chi, former Hyundai
executive.
In its ruling yesterday, the Supreme Court said
the statements were not believable.
Mr. Lee is said to have delivered Hyundai
Group's money to Mr. Park through Kim Yeong-wan.
Mr. Kim, now a fugitive in the United States,
sent his statement to the prosecution from where
he had taken refuge.
Former President Kim, who is in Rome on a visit
to the World Food Program, welcomed the Supreme
Court's decision. "I respect the Supreme Court's
fair decision," the former president was quoted
as saying by Kim Han-jung, Mr. Kim's secretary.
"Mr. Park was a scapegoat of politics. I am
happy that his honor is redeemed."
by Ha Jae-sik, Min Seong-jae
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Supreme Court Clears Former Presidential Aide of
Bribery Charges
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
The Supreme Court on Friday turned down a lower
court ruling against former Culture and Tourism
Minister Park Jie-won, virtually clearing him of
bribery charges in the high-profile money
scandal during the inter-Korean summit in 2000.
Citing lack of evidence, the highest court said
it couldn't confirm bribery charges against the
former aide to ex-President Kim Dae-jung and the
case needs a thorough review, a ruling that was
widely regarded as acquittal for Park.
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Gov't to Investigate Ex-President for Extortion
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan said Friday the
government will set up an independent commission
to investigate the allegation that Jeongsu
Scholarship Foundation, founded by late
President Park Chung-hee, had extorted money
from businessmen during the 1960s.
Answering lawmakers' questions at the National
Assembly, the prime minister further said a fact-
finding body for the allegation is ``absolutely
needed if the Park administration took people's
money without adequate compensation and against
their will."
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Students establish group to oppose left
November 11, 2004 ? University student activists
formed a new coalition yesterday to oppose a
movement led by the leftist Hanchongryun, a
radical pro-North Korea student organization.
The students from seven schools around the
country came together at Hongik University in
Seoul to establish the new group.
In a statement, they announced they would work
to solve unemployment among youth, to develop
democracy and human rights in North Korea,
Myanmar and Iraq, to support the autonomy of
university student councils and to help their
universities compete on the world stage.
The representatives in the new coalition come
from student council candidates at Seoul
National, Hongik, Kyungpook, Wonkwang, Konkuk,
Chonbuk and Kunsan universities. They plan to
form a bigger coalition by rallying more student
leaders.
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Booklets on Koguryo Out in 4 Languages
By Lee Yong-sung
Staff Reporter
A booklet clarifying the Koguryo Kingdom was part of the history of Korea has
been published in four languages.
Roughly 35 different kingdoms ceased to exist in the area covering contemporary
China in the 705 years of the Koguryo Period (B.C.18-668). With clear
counter-evidence to some Chinese scholars' claims that the kingdom was a merely
a provincial government of Chinese dynasties, the Korean government has had a
hard time dealing with the dispute, with limited sources to promote the truth
out of the country.
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Police Disrupt Voting of Unionized Civil Servants
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
Police Tuesday swooped on polling stations of
the Korea Government Employees' Union (KGEU)
nationwide, disrupting union members from voting
on the general strike set for Nov. 15.
Loud voices echoed and clubs were brandished in
many stations as police hauled in dozens of
union members protesting in violation of labor
laws that prevent any collective action by the
civil servants' union.
Police said they deployed 25,000 riot police at
some 230 polling stations, where around 14,000
union members were to cast ballots to give the
go-ahead for the planned strike.
[human rights]
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Truth probe by NIS
The Republic of Korea had gone through a sort of a dark age for over a quarter of a century from the 1961 military coup. During this period, there were deaths and disappearances of people who opposed the repressive rule but the public were kept in the dark. The media raised questions but were unable to come close to the truth.
The worst time was the 1970s between President Park Chung-hee's declaration of the "Yushin" system in 1972 and his assassination in 1979. People remember Sasanggye magazine publisher Chang Jun-ha, Seoul National University professor Choe Jong-gil and the executed members of the allegedly pro-North Korean "People's Revolutionary Party" and many other victims of the dictatorship but do not know exactly how they died.
The only thing that was certain about all those incidents was that the (Korean) Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), which later changed its name to the Agency for National Security Planning (NSP) and is now the National Intelligence Service (NIS), was behind them. As the omnipotent tool of dictatorial rule, agents of the KCIA played a part in all overt and covert operations to remove threats to the regime.
During the 1988-93 presidency of Roh Tae-woo, who once headed the state intelligence apparatus, few expected that the organization would come clean about its "sins" as his administration was still very much part of the past and needed its help to maintain power. To our great regret and puzzlement, the intelligence agency was able to withstand strong pressures from democratic forces to reveal the truth even during the administrations of Presidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, two democracy movement leaders who had suffered KCIA's persecutions since the 1960s.
Last week, the NIS launched a 15-member "truth commission" made up mostly of former pro-democracy activists to establish facts about the past. It is obvious that the intelligence agency took the supposedly "voluntary" step in conjunction with the ruling Uri Party's move to enact a law to investigate all past anti-national and anti-democratic activities as one of its reform legislations.
We now have some doubts that the NIS-initiated probe, at least two administrations overdue, will be able to come to the bottom of the mysteries after the passage of so much time. The intelligence organization has undergone drastic overhauls in the intervening years and most of the operatives who were involved in dirty acts and key witnesses have left the agency. Still, the NIS commission will be able to obtain important testimony and material evidence if its members make a devoted effort to accomplish their task.
The Uri Party's plan for reform legislation, which also includes bills on the repeal of the National Security Law and regulation of newspaper businesses and private school foundations, faces fuzzy prospects as these measures have been rejected by the opposition Grand National Party. Regardless of the fate of Uri's bills, the NIS should continue its self-probe and produce convincing explanations about the past atrocities committed by the dictatorial leaders for citizens who have waited for the truth for too long.
Besides, other state organizations which also served as repressive machines of the past military authoritarian rule, such as the Army intelligence command, the special investigation units of the National Police and even the presidential office, should positively help the NIS commission by providing witnesses as well as material in their possession that are necessary to establish the truth.
2004.11.09
Korea Herald editorial
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Susie Kim's retribution; a young boxer's death
November 08, 2004 ?
Nov. 13, 2001
This was the date on which Susie Kim could
finally rest in peace, after her violent death
in 1987. Living a fairly mediocre existence in
Hong Kong, Ms. Kim never imagined in her wildest
dreams that she'd be accused of being a North
Korean agent, but that is exactly what happened
as part of a conspiracy hatched by her husband,
Yun Tae-sik.
The two met in Hong Kong in 1986, where Ms. Kim
was working as a waitress at local bars. Mr.
Yun, planning to start a business in Hong Kong,
was introduced to her by a friend and they tied
the knot soon after. Their married life,
however, was not happy and soon the two were
fighting almost every night. The night of Jan.
3, 1987, started out as no exception, but had a
deadly ending as Mr. Yun, in a fit of blind
rage, strangled his 34-year-old wife.
After hiding Ms. Kim's body under a bed, Mr. Yun
fled their apartment in panic and flew to
Singapore. When he got there he set out for the
one country in which he thought he could start a
whole new life: North Korea. He went straight to
the North Korean Embassy and requested exile in
the North, but he received a cold reception.
He then went to the U.S. Embassy, which sent him
to the South Korean Embassy. It was there that
he concocted the story that he had narrowly
escaped before his wife could send him to North
Korea. Mr. Yun told the South Korean National
Security Planning Agency that his wife was a
North Korean spy, something he had discovered
after being visited by pro-North Korean Japanese
agents on the night of his flight to Singapore.
He said the agents showed up and threatened his
wife over an unpaid debt, then took her away
while he barely escaped. The National Security
Planning Agency, all-powerful during the
military regimes, decided after three months of
investigation to trust Mr. Yun and his story.
When Ms. Kim's body was found weeks after her
death, the Hong Kong police fingered Mr. Yun as
the prime suspect and asked for cooperation from
South Korea. The agency, however, was not so
helpful.
Today, many people voice suspicions that the
agency turned a blind eye to the truth on
purpose. Mr. Yun held a press conference later
calling his dead wife a North Korean spy, and
from then on he led a normal life in South
Korea. His misdeeds continued, however, as he
used forged identities to obtain credit cards.
As a businessman, Mr. Yun had a breakthrough
with a start-up company in the late 1990s,
featured on TV shows. Viewers of the show
included Ms. Kim's surviving siblings, who had
led a destitute life as the family of a "North
Korean spy," and they eventually filed a lawsuit
against him for murdering their sister.
The days of falsehood ended on this date, when
prosecutors arrested Mr. Yun on this charge,
just a year before the statute of limitations
expired. Found guilty, he was sentenced to 15
years and six months in prison, and is currently
serving his term. The agency, today's National
Intelligence Service, apologized to Ms. Kim's
family, but did not provide compensation as a
suit filed against it was rejected by the courts.
[PYR]
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Book digs into Park as military man
For historians, Park Chung-hee is a rich topic.
From his 1961 military coup to a high-profile
assassination on Oct. 26 of 1979, Park left an
unprecedented legacy on Korea's modern history.
No wonder there is no shortage of books and
articles allegedly rediscovering him.
"Park Chung-hee: A Military Man" (Gaema Gowon;
15,000 won), written in Korean, is the latest of
the ever-growing offerings about the
authoritarian military ruler, whose 19-year in
power reshaped Korea in a sweeping fashion that
is still unmatched by any other presidents.
Author Jeong Woon-hyeon is currently managing
editor of online newspaper Ohmynews, which is
regarded as one of few media sources favored by
President Roh Moo-hyun, who is constantly
clashing with conservative newspapers and the
opposition Grand National Party led by Park's
eldest daughter, Geun-hye.
Park Chung-hee as a Japanese imperial army
officer in early 1940s (left photo) and a Korean
Army general in 1961
The Korean public still holds a mixture of
nostalgia and hatred toward Park. Although
mainstream historians pull no punches in
revealing Park's negative side as a ruthless
military ruler, Park was voted as most favored
among both former and incumbent presidents by
Koreans in a Gallup survey in June this year.
-
Ex-president off to Europe, U.S.
November 06, 2004 ? Former president Kim Dae-
jung is scheduled to leave today for a visit to
the United States, Sweden, and Italy.
The former president will meet with Sweden's
Prime Minister Goran Persson and will present a
lecture on the Korean Peninsula at the Olof
Palme International Peace Center.
In Italy, Mr. Kim will give an opening address
at a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize winners.
Mr. Kim will be in the United States at the
invitation of former U.S. President Bill
Clinton, and will participate in an opening
ceremony at the Clinton Presidential Library in
Little Rock, Arkansas, on Nov. 18.
-
Foundation Day of Korea Commemorated in
Simultaneously in Pyongyang and Seoul
A function to commemorate the foundation day of Korea held held in front of
King Tangun's Mausoleum on October 3.
The Foundation Day of Korea was commemorated in the DPRK. A function was held
in front of King Tangun's Mausoleum on October 3.
Present there were Kim Yong Dae, vice-president of the Presidium of the DPRK
SPA who is Chairman of the National Reconciliation Council; Ryu Mi Yong,
Chairperson of the Council for the Reunification of Tangun's nation (CRTN); O
Ik Je, vice-chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the
Fatherland, officials concerned and overseas Koreans who were visiting the DPRK.
Ten years have passed since King Tangun's Mausoleum was constructed.
Foundation Day of Korea Commemorated in Simultaneously in Pyongyang and Seoul
A function to commemorate the foundation day of Korea held held in front of
King Tangun's Mausoleum on October 3.
The Foundation Day of Korea was commemorated in the DPRK. A function was held
in front of King Tangun's Mausoleum on October 3.
Present there were Kim Yong Dae, vice-president of the Presidium of the DPRK
SPA who is Chairman of the National Reconciliation Council; Ryu Mi Yong,
Chairperson of the Council for the Reunification of Tangun's nation (CRTN); O
Ik Je, vice-chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the
Fatherland, officials concerned and overseas Koreans who were visiting the DPRK.
Ten years have passed since King Tangun's Mausoleum was constructed.
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