ROK and Inter-Korean relations February 2005

ROK and Inter-Korean relations

February 2005

Pyongyangites Welcome S. Korean Defector
Pyongyang, February 23 (KCNA) -- Pyongyangites warmly welcomed Kim Ki Ho who came over to the north at a mass meeting held Tuesday. Kim, 60, came over to the north recently while serving as a civilian employee at a unit of the U.S. forces in south Korea. Kim Jong Sik, vice-chairman of the Pyongyang City People's Committee, in a welcome speech said that Kim Ki Ho's defection to the north was an expression of his longing for the north and his will to join the sacred Songun revolutionary ranks whose members are single-mindedly united around the headquarters of the revolution. Kim would have an opportunity to fully enjoy a worthwhile and rewarding life as a citizen of the DPRK which has made a dynamic advance, demonstrating its dignity thanks the unquestioned prestige of Kim Jong Il, Songun illustrious commander of Mt. Paektu, noted Kim Jong Sik.
Scandals Rock schools
Teachers Involved in Cheating, Manipulation of Scores By Chung Ah-young Staff Reporter The prosecution Friday brought Sogang University's admissions scandal to an end by arresting two professors involved. Sogang University chancellor Ryu Jang-son and 17 faculty members tendered their resignations on Thursday, taking responsibility for the school's admissions irregularities [Corruption]
S. Koreans Revising Image of Nation's Elite
Film, Truth Panel Seen by Some as Attack on Wealthy By Anthony Faiola Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, February 13, 2005; Page A29 SEOUL -- The politically charged film "The President's Last Bang" is a shot at the heart of the South Korean establishment. The main target: Park Chung Hee, the South Korean president, conservative icon and former military leader who was gunned down in 1979 after 18 years in power.
Park was venerated by conservatives as a hero who faced down communist North Korea while turning his country into an economic success. But the film, which opened this month to cheers and jeers, casts him as a philandering drunk with a traitorous soft spot for Korea's former occupiers, the Japanese. South Korea's wealthy elite -- represented by Park's ministers, aides and henchmen -- are portrayed as degenerates torturing communists and gorging on luxury foods, excessive drink and easy women while displaying disregard for the common man. More than a lashing administered by one director, the movie captures the national mood.
Defense aide faces renewed scrutiny
February 23, 2005 ? Following a Blue House announcement that it intended to review the alleged role Deputy Defense Minister Yoo Hyo-il may have played as an Army officer in crushing the democracy movement in 1980, Mr. Yoo protested yesterday that he had been tried and acquitted long ago of any involvement. [human rights] [Kwangju]
Joint Dictionary Compilation Committee Inaugurated
Mt. Kumgang Resort, February 21 (KCNA) -- An inaugural ceremony of the Joint Compilation Committee for "Large Korean Dictionary" was held at Mt. Kumgang resort on Feb. 20. Congratulatory addresses and speeches were made. Mun Yong Ho, director of the Philology Institute of the Academy of Social Sciences who is chairman of the north side, in his speech recalled that President Kim Il Sung said meaningful words more than 30 years back that exchange and collaboration between scholars of the north and the south should start in the field of philology, to begin with, and gave a valuable teaching on making a dictionary of the unified national language when receiving Rev. Mun Ik Hwan on a visit to Pyongyang.
Candlelight Vigil Organizer Convicted of Illegal Rallies
By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter The Supreme Court on Tuesday handed a guilty verdict to the organizer of candlelight vigils for two Korean schoolgirls who were killed by an armored vehicle of the U.S. army in 2002. Upholding a lower court ruling, the top court sentenced Kim Chong-il to 18 months in jail with the term suspended for two years for organizing illegal demonstrations. Kim was indicted on charges of organizing rallies and candlelight vigils for the girls in Seoul without prior permission from police over 14 times from July 2002 through October 2003, as well as occupying streets and beating police officers during the rallies. [Human rights]
Koreas Argue Over Novel's Copyright
By Lee Yong-sung Staff Reporter Copyright issues between the two Koreas might be set for a solution as a copyright claim raised in the North about a best-selling novel is accelerating the process. Sakyejul, the publisher of the late novelist Hong Myong-hee's ``Im Kkok-jong'' has announced that it would be willing to sign a copyright agreement with the original North Korean copyright holder of the book should it receive a formal request. Having defected to the North during the Korean War, Hong, who is also well known with his pen name of Pyokcho, gained popularity through the novel when it was published serially in the Chosun Ilbo in the late 1920s.
Kim Dae-jung prepared to go to North, if asked
February 22, 2005 ? Reviving his desire to play an active role in relations between North and South Korea, former President Kim Dae-jung said yesterday that if he were invited to visit Pyeongyang, he is prepared to discuss a range of issues concerning the Korean Peninsula. "Since the dialogue between the two Koreas isn't working well, I can do my part to resolve the current stalemate in the relationship," Mr. Kim said in an interview with MBC Radio, a South Korean broadcaster. Responding to a question about Pyeongyang's latest statement that it was abandoning talks over its development of nuclear arms, the former president called the announcement unexpected and said that in light of international expectations the North's action was problematic. Mr. Kim reiterated what he said earlier this month that Pyeongyang should return to the talks.
Missing Raft Located in Russian Waters
By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter A South Korean raft, which had been missing in North Korean territorial waters for about two days, was found in the North's eastern sea yesterday afternoon, maritime police said. The 4.5 meter-wide and 11 meter-long raft weighing 11 tons was on a voyage exploring theories about the Palhae Kingdom (698-926), traveling from the Russian port of Posiet near Vladivostok to Niigata in Japan. The Korea Coast Guard said its patrol plane, which took off at 12:30 p.m. from Kimpo Airport after obtaining approval from the North, located the raft in the North Korean sea, 243 miles north of the Tokto islets in the East Sea, at 4:18 p.m.
Last month, North Korea accepted a similar South Korean request for permission to search for a vessel missing in its territorial waters in the East Sea.
Ewha Tops University Performance Ranking
By Chung Ah-young Staff Reporter Ewha Womans University has ranked first in an evaluation of the performance of major institutions of higher learning in Korea carried out by the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE). Ewha scored 97.75 points out of 100, followed by Hanyang University's Seoul campus with 96.76 and Hanyang University's Ansan campus with 95.6.
South, North Korean Scholars Launch Joint Dictionary Project
By Kim Tae-jong Staff Reporter
About 40 scholars, poets and politicians from South and North Korea gathered Sunday at Mt. Kumgang in the North to launch a project to publish the first unified Korean dictionary in half a century. At the ceremony, South Korean poet Ko Un, who will head the joint committee for the project, recited his poem entitled ``Let Us See Each Other as We Look at Mount. Kumgang,'' and said ``the publication of the dictionary is to unify the people in both countries, protect their lives, sweep away all the vestiges of Japanese imperialism and heal the pain of division.'' The project was first proposed in 1989 by the late South Korean Rev. Moon Ik-hwan during his controversial visit to Pyongyang. However, no concrete steps were taken until some committee members met in December and established a list of conditions agreed to by both sides. Although the people of the two Koreas speak the same language, the difference in the two countries' use of it has grown in the 50 years since division, with many words having been added to each nations' vocabularies.
Fisherman in NK Wants to Come Home
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter A South Korean fisherman, who was abducted in the West Sea by a North Korean patrol boat 18 years ago, is still alive and wants to come back home, a civic group leader in Seoul said yesterday. Im Kuk-jae, 54, failed to escape the North twice and is presumed to be detained at a labor camp, said Choi Sung-young, head of a group of South Korean families seeking the safe return of their relatives abducted by the North. ``Im tried to escape the North in September 2003 and April the next year, but failed to make it because his family in the North reported it (to security officials),'' Choi told reporters.
Seoul Must Clarify Policy Towards Pyongyang
Kim Se-jeong Asheville, N.C., the United States The South Korean government seems to be between a rock and a hard place among foreign countries regarding the North Korea's declaration of its possession of nuclear weapons, being able to end economic aid and cooperation with North Korea although seemingly unwilling to do so. If my guess is correct _ and I hope it is correct _ the reason why Seoul wants to continue with cooperation is because we are still one Korea, and we want to help people in the North despite the nuclear issue. This is the right thing for us to do. This is what really can be called a ``humanitarian approach,'' as reinforced by Shin Hye-seong of the Ministry of Unification in a letter to the editor on Jan. 10. [Friction]
Vice Defense Minister Accused of Role in 1980 Suppression
By Shim Jae-yun Staff Reporter The presidential office said yesterday that it will closely examine the role of Vice Defense Minister Yoo Hyo-il in the bloody suppression of a civil uprising in Kwangju in 1980, before deciding whether to take action against him. [human rights]
'French Gang Killed Ex-Intelligence Chief'
By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter A local monthly magazine has reported that Kim Hyong-uk, former chief of the state spy agency, was killed by a French gang in October 1979 after being lured to Paris by a Korean intelligence agent disguising himself as a student studying there. Quoting former high-ranking officials of the agency and former Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) lawmaker Kim Kyung-jae, who wrote Kim's memoirs, the Monthly Chosun said that the gang dumped Kim's body and the agent paid them for the contract murder. Kim, who helped Gen. Park Chung-hee in the 1961 military coup, was chief of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), predecessor of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), between 1963 and 1969. However, he fled to the United States in 1973 after then President Park lost confidence in him. Later in Paris in 1979, Kim mysteriously disappeared at the age of 55 after being spotted at a casino club. Rumors have lingered over his whereabouts and some suspected KCIA agents might have kidnapped and killed him at Park's command as Kim attempted to testify against the Park to the U.S. Congress. [Park Chung-hee] [Terrorism]
Helicopter Project to Start in December
By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The government will launch a multibillion-dollar procurement project to build utility helicopters in December in partnership with foreign bidders, the Ministry of National Defense said Friday. The ministry said a total of 5 trillion won (some $4.5 billion) will be used for the so-called Korean Helicopter Program (KHP), including the cost for research and development. The project is aimed at producing hundreds of helicopters to replace the country's aging fleet. The arms procurement program, formerly dubbed the Korea Multi-Purpose Helicopter (KMH), called for the development of some 500 military aircraft, including 200 attack helicopters, by 2012. But the government has now downscaled the project, following a re-examination of the project from last September after civic organizations and the state audit agency raised questions over its economic feasibility. [Military balance]
Fate of National Security Law
By Gillian Oak The National Security Law, a source of ongoing political debate since its inception in 1948, is likely to be brought before the National Assembly, in the hopes of reaching a conclusive decision concerning its retention or demise.
However, until the threat from the North has completely disappeared, the National Security Law remains a legitimate measure of South Korean protection. The threat has not abated and will not for some time to come. Therefore, the Security Law should remain in place. ** The writer is a senior in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. gill_ [human rights]
rally in central Seoul
Action for Human Rights in North Korea: Human rights activists from different countries shout slogans to urge the Korean government to take action against North Korea for its alleged human rights infringements during a rally in central Seoul on Wednesday. A man holds a picket that reads: ``No to Beijing Olympics,'' denouncing China for sending North Korean refugees back to the Stalinist country. The protesters were visiting Seoul to attend an international conference on the North's human rights situation organized by a local civic group.
South Korean Comedy to Film at Mt. Kumgang
By Park Chung-a Staff Reporter A movie that takes a comic look at the two Koreas will become the first South Korean film to be partially shot in the North. ``Brave Family (Kankun Kajok),'' a comedy about a family pretending that the Koreas have been reunified to please their dying father, is set to shoot part of its story in the North, according to Doosaboo Film, the production company behind the movie.
``North Korea permitted the shooting because it were interested in the film's message,'' he added.
Uri Party accuses lawmaker of torture
February 16, 2005 ? At a press conference yesterday, Uri Party lawmakers and former political activists accused a sitting member of the National Assembly of torturing political dissidents when he was an investigator with the national spy agency. The lawmakers and former dissidents said Chung Hyung-gun, a lawmaker with the opposition Grand National Party, beat activists when he was a high-ranking investigator for the National Intelligence Service in the 1980s and 1990s
International Forum on NK Human Rights Conditions Opens
SEOUL (Yonhap) - A group of human rights experts from around the world gathered in Seoul Monday for a three-day forum to discuss human rights conditions in North Korea. Organized by several colleges and civic groups in South Korea, the sixth International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees sheds light on the human rights abuse that is prevalent in the communist state.
Banknote redesign may be in the works
February 15, 2005 ? In response to a rise in counterfeiting, Korea's central bank is considering redesigning the country's banknotes. "It is difficult to curb the sharp increase in the numbers of forged notes with the current banknotes, whose basic designs were introduced more than 20 years ago," a Bank of Korea spokesman said yesterday. "We need to introduce banknotes with new high-technology designs to differentiate them from counterfeit notes," he added. Forgeries have been rising as printing and scanning technology has improved. Last year, 4,353 counterfeit notes were discovered nationwide; that was an increase of 11.7 percent from 2003, and 12 times higher than 1998's figure. In the first four weeks of this year alone, the central bank discovered 786 forged notes [Counterfeiting]
Racial rules in military might be abolished
February 15, 2005 ? The Korean Military Manpower Administration yesterday announced it was proposing the lifting of restrictions on military service by biracial South Koreans. Among Korean males of Korean-Japanese and Korean- Chinese parentage, only those who live with their fathers are currently subject to the military draft. Other biracial Korean men can't join the military even on a voluntary basis.
Early Warning Aircraft Procurement Project to Resume
By Yoon Won-sup Staff Reporter The Ministry of National Defense said Monday it has decided to resume the stalled $1.9 billion project of procuring early warning aircraft from the zero base. The ministry will receive bidders for the project again in late March, and will select a successful bidder in December through an open competition. The project, codenamed E-X, was initially designed to improve the nation's independent surveillance capabilities by acquiring four early warning planes by 2011. But it had been temporarily suspended after the bidding system ran against its competitive basis.
Complete Liquidation of Conception of "Principal Enemy" Demanded in S. Korea
Pyongyang, February 10 (KCNA) -- The Solidarity for Implementation of the South-North Joint Declaration in south Korea reportedly made public a statement on Feb. 5, urging the "Ministry of National Defense" to completely liquidate the anti-national conception of the "principal enemy" as demanded by the people who want genuine unity between the south and the north. Referring to the fact that the ministry in its "white paper of national defense for 2004" issued on Feb. 4 changed the existing expression of the "principal enemy, the north" into "direct military threat such as conventional military power, weapons of mass destruction and forefront deployment of military forces of the north," the statement said this is only the change of expression and it still remains unchanged in essence as it defined the north as target of concrete military action. The statement charged that today the principal enemy and the forces of worst threat to peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula is the United States and the most "direct military threat" is the relocation of the U.S. forces in south Korea and arms buildup for a preemptive attack on the north.
GNP Urges Probe Into Abduction of Pastor
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) plans to submit a bill to the National Assembly today requiring the legislature to launch a probe into North Korea's abduction of a South Korean-American pastor. The United States promised to pay attention to the kidnapping of Rev. Kim Dong-shik at the future six-party talks over the North's nuclear programs, according to a South Korean interpreter close to the case. Rev. Kim, 58, was kidnapped by North Korean agents five years ago. He was then helping North Korean refugees in Yanji, a city bordering the Stalinist country.
S. Korean Defector Interviewed
Pyongyang, February 9 (KCNA) -- Kim Ki Ho who defected to the northern half of Korea was interviewed here on February 8 by domestic and foreign mediapersons. Kim, 60, had served as an employee at a U.S. army unit in south Korea for nearly 30 years. At the press conference he said he came over to the northern half of Korea not by any impulse but because he was unable to remain a passive on- looker to all sorts of highhandedness, outrages and atrocities committed by GIs in south Korea. That was why he came to bitterly hate the U.S. and think that its forces should be forced out of south Korea, he said, and continued: Through various channels I came to know well that in the northern half of Korea the people enjoy a worthy life as masters of society and, in particular, the DPRK under the Songun leadership of Kim Jong Il is standing firm against the U.S. which styles itself the "only superpower" in the world. This renewed my resolution to come over to the north with the firm determination to contribute to the struggle to force GIs out of south Korea and reunify the country. Referring to the embezzlement of funds by a superior officer of the U.S. army, he said the Yankees expelled him in a bid to cover up their crime when he attempted to lay bare this scandal.
KPA Warns S. Korea to Stop Infiltration of Warships Into Northern Territory
A spokesman for the Navy Command of the Korean People's Army (KPA) urged on January 21 the South Korean military authorities to ponder over the serious consequences that may be entailed by the military tension mounting in the West Sea of Korea and bring the situation under control without delay.
Spending on overseas education continues to climb
February 07, 2005 ? Koreans' spending on overseas education reached a new height last year, totaling $5.15 billion, according to the Trade Research Institute. The figure, a 10.5-percent increase from 2003, was in a report released yesterday by the institute, a research body under the Korea International Trade Association. By comparison, foreign students coming to Korea to study spent a mere $260 million last year, the report said. The institute determined that the number of Koreans who went abroad to study last year was 394,000, an increase of 13.3 percent compared to the previous year.
S. Korean Military Warned against Touch-and-Go Situation in West Sea
Pyongyang, February 7 (KCNA) -- We warn the south Korean military authorities against acting rashly, mindful that if they persist in their reckless military provocations, it will cause unpredictable consequences. This warning is served by the Navy Command of the Korean People's Army in a press release issued Monday as regards the military tension daily escalating in the West Sea of Korea due to their premeditated provocative acts. On Feb. 6 and 7 the south Korean military authorities infiltrated their battleship into waters of the north side south of Kuwol Hill in the wake of their similar intrusion on Feb. 4, deliberately escalating the tension there, the press release said, and went on: What should not be overlooked is that the spokesman for the navy of the south Korean forces expressed "regret" over the repeated warnings of the north and blustered that they would defend the "northern limit line" to the last. This is another intolerable challenge as it stirred up the military stand-off between the north and the south. The ceaseless intrusion of south Korean battleships into the afore-said waters is pushing the stand-off between the two sides to a touch-and-go situation.
Film Censorship Ruling Stirs Anger
By Kim Tae-jong Staff Reporter Members of the film industry reacted strongly to the Seoul court's decision that a controversial film about the assassination of former President Park Chung-hee must be edited before its release. ``The ruling is a pure anachronism,'' members of Women in Film Korea said Tuesday in their official statement on the court's decision. ``It is the same method of censorship used to control culture by the past dictatorial government.'' Directed by Lim Sang-soo, the film ``The President's Last Bang (Kuddae Ku Saramdul)'' is a fictionalized account of the president's death on Oct. 26, 1979. It is set during a party at the president's ``safe house,'' an unregistered location for the late president managed by the KCIA in Kungjung-dong, Seoul.
Korea's Education Deficit Widening
By Kim Sung-jin Staff Reporter South Korea is suffering from the greatest education deficit among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations, and it is widening every year. According to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) Sunday, Korea's education deficit totaled $4.26 billion in 2002, up from $3.53 billion the previous year. Koreans spent a combined $4.44 billion studying abroad in 2002 while foreigners' education expenses in Korea stood at a mere $185 million.
POSCO Advised to Donate for WWII Victims
By Kim Sung-jin Staff Reporter The ruling Uri Party will initiate a nationwide campaign to raise funds to compensate more than 1 million Koreans forced to serve in the military by the Japanese government and over 200,000 Korean women forced to be sex slaves in military brothels. The party is moving to encourage companies, including POSCO, that benefited from Japan's monetary reparation to donate funds for Korean individuals who were forcibly drafted or under slave labor during the Japanese colonial rule between 1910-1945. A Uri Party lawmaker said part of the Japanese fund was mobilized to build factories, including POSCO's. He expressed hope that the steelmaker and other large firms would participate in the drive voluntarily, adding that 25 percent of the Japanese reparation was used to build POSCO. [Japanese colonialism]
Kyonggi Governor Invites NK to Peace Festival
By Bae Keun-min Staff Reporter Kyonggi Province plans to invite a North Korean delegation to a large-scale international peace festival to be held in August at Dorasan Station, which is the last train stop outside of the Demilitarized Zone. Governor Sohn Hak-kyu has revealed the plan to host the festivity in celebration of the 60th anniversary of liberation from Japanese colonial rule and ``Visit Kyonggi Korea 2005.''

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