[Column] Lift the ban on sending leaflets to the North

Son Gi-woong
The author, former head of the Korea Institute for National Unification, is the director of the Korea Institute for Peace and Cooperation.

What is North Korean leader Kim Jong-un most afraid of? American invasion? No. If the United States wanted to attack North Korea, it would have done so when the North Korean military were not strong enough to compete with America — or before it had nuclear weapons. Now that North Korea has become a de facto nuclear weapons state and is backed by China and Russia, an attack on the North seems realistically impossible. Unless Kim starts a war, there would not be one.

In my view, Kim must be most afraid of North Koreans changing after learning the truth. They could realize the truth behind the worst poverty and dictatorship in the world, the meaning of human rights, freedom and democracy, and the real purpose of nuclear weapons, which is the maintenance of power and hereditary succession for Kim and his family, unlike the propaganda of preparations for foreign invasion. Kim is also afraid of his people knowing the real reason for all the pain they suffer from international sanctions.

Kim Jong-un would be most afraid of South Korea changing North Koreans. The economic gap has grown the widest — as many as 50 times as wide — since the division seven decades ago. North Korea is no match for South Korea in human rights, liberty, democracy and welfare. As Kim studied in Europe, he knows well how East Germany collapsed by the influence of West Germany and how the socialist states in Eastern Europe changed because of the demands from their people.

Kim’s fear was resolved by President Moon Jae-in and his progressive administration. In December 14, 2020, the Democratic Party (DP) pushed for a ban on sending propaganda leaflets to North Korea by revising the “Act on the Development of Inter-Korean Relations.” The transmission of any data and information to the North and its people is strictly controlled and any violation is subject to punishment. So-called democratization activists created an evil law covering the eyes and ears of North Koreans. It was a gift to the North Korean leader.

There is no law more sinister than this. First, it blocks efforts to inform North Koreans of the truth. At the time, the Moon administration did not approach the North Korean people, but only cared about their leader. It is a ridiculous idea to try to coexist with Kim’s hereditary dictatorship in the name of peace. The South Korean government did not do the right thing for North Koreans who are Korean citizens under our Constitution. Instead, the government banned private efforts to do so on its behalf.

Second, the ‘third country’ clause is a toxic one. The banned items include leaflets and items, including advertising propaganda, printed material and auxiliary storage devices and money, sent or distributed through third countries. As it is referred to as a “ban on leaflets to North Korea,” some South Koreans mistake it for a law aimed at protecting the lives and properties of the people living in the border area by controlling the distribution of leaflets from the sensitive area. But it is an evil law that controls and punishes any efforts to inform North Koreans of the truth not only from the border area but also from anywhere in the world.

The Yoon Suk Yol administration must focus on “changing North Korea by changing North Koreans.” It must encourage North Korean residents to open their eyes to the truth, demand their human rights, liberty, democracy and welfare, realize that nuclear weapons are their tragedy, not happiness, and call for a humane life and system changes without nuclear weapons. Informing the North Koreans of the truth is an urgent task. Decisions and actions are up to North Koreans.

The link is North Korea’s democratization and human rights. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration and the governing party must roll up their sleeves to take the lead for a human-like existence for North Koreans. The job must not be given to the DP whose party platform does not include such terms as “liberal democracy” or “freedom.”

President Yoon should resolutely walk towards the day when all residents of the Korean Peninsula enjoy freedom, democracy, human rights and welfare, as he announced in his own voice. The government and the people must proudly walk the path toward reunification as stipulated in the Constitution, not as the “collaborators of division” by treating communication and cooperation with North Korea as reunification.

While deterring North Korean provocations, the Yoon administration must set goals for its North Korea policy and unification policy. In other words, the goal of North Korea policy should be increasing the number of North Koreans who properly understand South Korea’s development one by one. The goal of the unification policy should be to make more North Koreans want to work with South Korea one by one. It starts with abolishing the nonsensical ban on dispatching leaflets across the border.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.