South Korean police summon activist over anti-Pyongyang leaflets
- The questioning of Park Sang-hak came hours after President Moon Jae-in apparently criticised Park in a televised speech
- Park has said his actions were aimed at educating North Koreans on the harsh realities of Pyongyang’s authoritarian regime
South Korean police on Monday summoned an activist who said he flew hundreds of thousands of anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets toward North Korea in defiance of a new law that criminalises such activities.
The questioning of Park Sang-hak came hours after President Moon Jae-in in a nationally televised speech apparently criticised Park without naming him, saying it’s “never desirable” to dampen relations with the North by violating inter-Korean agreements and South Korean laws.
While South Korea has faced criticism over the anti-leafleting law, which some human rights advocates see as an attack on democratic freedoms and efforts to break the North’s information blockage, Moon stressed that his government has “no choice but to strictly enforce laws.”
Police had searched Park’s office last week after he announced that his group launched balloons carrying 500,000 leaflets, 5,000 one-dollar bills and 500 booklets about South Korea’s economic riches across the border during April 25-29.
If confirmed, Park’s action would be the first known violation of the law, which took effect in March and punishes anti-Pyongyang leafleting with up to three years in prison or a fine of 30 million won (US$27,000).
Officials at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency did not immediately confirm any details from the questioning or whether they were pushing for Park’s arrest.
Park has said his actions were aimed at educating North Koreans on the harsh realities of Pyongyang’s authoritarian regime and claimed that other activists will continue to launch leaflets across the border even if he goes to jail.
North Korea is extremely sensitive to outside criticism about its leadership, and Park’s announcement drew vitriol from Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un who handles inter-Korean affairs.
She said in a statement released through state media that the leafleting was an “intolerable provocation” and that her government would look into corresponding measures. In 2014, North Korean soldiers at the border fired toward balloons flying toward its territory, prompting South Korean troops to return fire.
Seoul’s anti-leafleting law was fiercely debated during a video conference hearing called by US politicians last month, where US Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey accused Seoul of retreating from its “long-standing commitment to human rights vis-à-vis North Korea and China, ostensibly in the cause of fostering better relations or achieving nuclear non-proliferation.”
South Korean lawyer Jeon Sumi, who was among the panellists defending the law, insisted that leafleting unnecessarily provokes the North and endangers the safety of South Koreans living in border areas.
