South Korea: ban on sending leaflets and objects against the North goes wrong
The anti-Pyongyang leaflets have been at the heart of several tensions between the two Korean neighbors.
Here, a balloon containing leaflets criticizing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, near the Paju demilitarized zone, March 26, 2016. REUTERS - Kim Hong-Ji
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
It is a decision that is difficult to pass.
Earlier this week, the South Korean parliament passed a law penalizing three years in prison for sending leaflets and other anti-regime material to North Korea.
US parliamentarians, as well as many associations of North Korean defectors reject the measure they describe as a restriction on freedom of expression.
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From our correspondent in Seoul
,
Nicolas Rocca
Seoul claims that these shipments are
unnecessary provocations
that undermine the balance of the peninsula.
For his part, Jeong Gwang Il moved to the South in 2003. This law is an indirect attack on all his activities since he arrived.
He runs the No Chain For North Korea association.
And he rejects the argument of the authorities who say that this text has the sole objective of guaranteeing the security of the peninsula.
“
The government is focusing only on improving inter-Korean relations.
But in our Constitution, it is written that the North Koreans are part of our people and we have the right to continue to inform them,
”he said.
"I'll go to jail if I have to"
Jeong Gwang Il's main concern is the impact this law could have on the North Korean population.
Like 33,000 other defectors, he left relatives north of the demilitarized zone.
“
Sometimes the money sent by the family to the South East is the only way to survive.
The media only talk about the Kim family there, the news coming from South Korea is hopeful.
I will do everything to ensure that this law does not come into force, I will go to prison if necessary,
”he continues.
Jeong Gwang He assured that he would go and defend his opposition to the law at the United Nations.
Other activists have raised the possibility of taking the text to the Korean Constitutional Court.
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South Korea bans sending north anti-Pyongyang leaflets, historic practice