afellowkid

(Machine translation + slight editing)

The first rally in support of Palestine is held in Korea... The debate over the 'Israeli-Palestinian War' ignites

October 11, 2023

Since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Palestine (Israeli-Palestinian War), rallies in support of both sides have been held all over the world. Even in Korea, demonstrations in support of Palestine are being held led by civic groups, and related debates are heating up.

Workers' Solidarity and Korea Islam (Kore de Islam) held an emergency rally and march in solidarity with Palestine near Gwanghwamun, Jung-gu, Seoul around 12:30 pm on the 11th.

A total of 200 participants from Egypt, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan, including Koreans and Palestinians, participated in the rally. They held posters such as 'Israel must stop bombing the Gaza Strip' and 'We support the Palestinian resistance' and continuously shouted slogans such as 'Free Palestine'.

Palestinians and members of social civic groups are holding a rally in support of Palestine in relation to the Israel-Hamas war in front of the Seoul Finance Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 11th. 2023.10.11

The organizers claimed, “Ethnic cleansing and discriminatory oppression by the State of Israel against Palestinians have continued for decades since the founding of the State of Israel,” and “Israel is massacring innocent people.”

At the ensuing rally, Korean Islamic officials, including Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, gave speeches. In the speech, Mr. Amer, a Palestinian, was interviewed over the phone by an acquaintance in the Gaza Strip and said, "Food has been cut off, so there is a huge shortage, and even the means to provide treatment, such as water, electricity, and medicine, are now extremely lacking," he appealed.

The interview was interrupted due to poor connectivity due to the air raid.

Akela, an Egyptian who participated in the rally, unfolded a piece of paper with pictures of Palestinian children listed like a checkerboard in both hands and said, "It seems like the only language Israel uses is terror and oppression. Are the children in these pictures even the youngest terrorists?" raising their voice.

When the speech ended, these groups held a march around the Israeli Embassy from the steps of the Seoul Finance Center, where the rally took place, to Cheonggyecheon Buk-ro.

Initially, they planned to approach the Israeli embassy and deliver a letter of protest, but due to opposition from the police, they had to return to Musan and stop at reciting the contents of the letter near Cheonggyecheon-ro.

Those who participated in the rally appealed for recognition of the Palestinian people, but also appeared to support the airstrikes carried out by the Palestinian armed political faction Hamas against Israeli residents on the 7th.

Karim Hussein (31), an Egyptian who participated in the rally with his family that day, said, "As Muslims and human beings, we participated in the rally regardless of nationality." He added, "This Hamas airstrike is a 'reaction' to the long history that Palestine has experienced so far," he said.

Jeong Dong-seok (61), a member of the Workers' Solidarity Party, also argued that the cause of the war was, "I think the problem is that Israel has been expelling and massacring the native Palestinians for about 70 years."

The group plans to continue supporting Palestine by holding an additional rally in Incheon on the 13th.

Meanwhile, as the war between Palestine and Israel unfolds, rallies in support of Palestine and Israel are being held all over the world.

According to Reuters, on the 9th (local time), citizens in solidarity with Israel held a march in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Additionally, on the 10th (local time), a rally supporting Israel and Palestine was simultaneously held near the Israeli consulate in New York.

At the United Nations headquarters in New York, USA, thousands of pro-Israel protesters gathered to condemn the surprise attack by Hamas, while in Chicago, Illinois, on the 8th (local time), Palestinian Americans, mainly, showed solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Street protests were also held.

In addition, 4,000 citizens demonstrated in support of Palestine in Amman, the capital of Jordan, and movements in support of Palestine are seen in the Arab world, from Ramallah in the West Bank to Beirut in Lebanon, Damascus in Syria, and Cairo in Egypt.

However, some Western countries are wary of the spread of anti-Semitism and attempts at terrorism.

Three protesters were arrested at a demonstration in support of Palestine held in front of the Israeli Embassy in London on the 9th (local time). British Home Secretary Suela Braverman called for a strong response, saying, "Waving the Palestinian flag may not be lawful if the intention is to glorify terrorism."

In Marseille, France, about 200 Palestinian supporters protested despite a police ban, and some protestors were fined.

After a rally in support of Palestine was held in front of the Sydney Opera House on the 9th (local time) and an Israeli flag was burned, Australian police warned citizens not to attend the pro-Palestinian rally planned in Sydney this weekend, saying it had not been approved.

Sovereignty Research Institute is a south Korean site which publishes articles about geopolitical and current events analysis and articles about DPRK. Over time I have been archiving some of their articles via archive.org or partially translating some, also during this time their URL has changed (archive version). I just want to create a list to keep track of some of their sections and series, for myself and also in case anyone is interested.

Quote from their about section:

The Sovereignty Research Institute conducts research to realize the sovereignty of the country and the sovereignty of the people. The Sovereign Research Institute was created as an affiliated research institute of Sovereign Broadcasting in 2016 and became independent in 2023.

Note that this list is incomplete as it's a reference for myself that I am just sharing. I may edit or remove/replace it in the future.

Morning Sunshine

Series:

"Changes in North Korea-China, North Korea-Russia relations and our tasks" part 1

"About North Korea's Juche Idea" part 1

North Korea Viewed Through the Constitution

Note: As the title suggests, this section quotes different sections of DPRK's constitution and explains them, also giving historical context.

DPRK-Russia Summit

Series:

"Significance, prospects, and points of note of the North Korea-Russia Summit" part 1

Special Series

Series:

"Palestine Series" part 1

"Anatomy of Chosun Ilbo" part 1

Column

Summary: PDP gave a speech in front of US embassy in Seoul and a speech in front of the White House in Washington DC. The speech expressed that only when Palestine is liberated can the conflict be resolved, and that the "US and Israel are one body and it is public knowledge in the whole world that the US aggression forces are behind the indiscriminate bombing and aggression of the Palestinians" and "the imperialist powers led by the United States have turned the world into a powder keg of war" using Zionism in the Middle East, NATO in Europe, Japanese militarism and the formation of an "Asian version of NATO" in Asia, strengthening the war alliance against DPRK and plotting a war in East Asia.

The speech concludes: "the deeper imperialist aggression becomes, the stronger a unity of anti-US independent forces become. The Palestinian people, who seek independence and justice, will defeat the aggressive US imperialist and win their liberation. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!"

Link to English statement

〈US troops must leave the Korean Peninsula immediately〉 … September World Anti-Imperialist Simultaneous Struggle, Pyeongtaek

Original article in Korean: 〈미군은 당장 코리아반도에서 떠나야〉 … 9월 세계반제동시투쟁 평택

"As anti-North Korea, anti-China, and anti-Russian actions intensify, a war in East Asia following the war in Eastern Europe will inevitably break out"

"Just as the imperialist aggressor forces centered on the United States are spreading the war in Eastern Europe by using Ukraine as a battlefield and using neo-Nazi forces as war agents, they are turning the Korean Peninsula into a battleground in Asia and advancing Japan with Yoon Seok-yeol's fascist forces as the US imperialists. They plan to use it as a base to start the Korean War and the Taiwan War."

(Above quotes from a statement included below)

Article via machine translation and slight editing and links added by me:

The September World Anti-Imperialist Struggle, hosted by The World Anti-imperialist Platform and Anti-American Struggle Headquarters, is vigorously underway in South Korea.

On September 9, in front of the Camp Humphreys US military base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, the People's Democratic Party (People's Party), Gyeonggi-do Party and local activists posted a slogan in Korean and English, “Oppose US imperialist war maneuvers!” Demolition of US military bases around the world! They vigorously carried out the global anti-imperialist struggle under the slogan, “A united people will always win!”

First, a moment of silence was held in memory of the martyrs who died fighting for independent unification and democracy, and then the March for Beloved was sung.

The Chairman of the Gyeonggi Provincial Party Organizing Committee of the People's Democratic Party, who presided over the event, said, "US-Japanese imperialism and its leader Yoon Seok-yeol are strengthening the and plotting the while also triggering the Taiwan War." With the slogan, he said, “We will put an end to the American imperialist invasion force, the cause of the world war, and overthrow its henchman Yoon Seok-yeol, hastening the true liberation of this land and the decisive victory of the anti-imperialist and independent forces.”

Participants chanted slogans such as “We oppose the U.S. imperialist war maneuver!”, “We condemn the trilateral military alliance between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea!”, “Down with Yoon Seok-yeol, who supports nuclear contamination!”, and “Let’s crush the Asian Pan-NATO North Korean invasion war alliance!” They shouted,

Pastor Jang Chang-won of the Osan Migrant Workers Center said, “I would like to emphasize that geopolitically, this is the center of East Asia’s connection and the center of solidarity is also on the Korean Peninsula.” “The U.S. military is conducting biochemical experiments all over the world, including the Korean Peninsula.” We continue to protest against biological weapons testing. “American soldiers who do not treat people like humans should leave the Korean Peninsula immediately,” he said.

Also, military training is taking place every day on the Korean Peninsula. There are bombs all around us that should not be used. The underlings of American imperialism include the Yoon Seok-yeol government. Since the Yoon Seok-yeol government came into power, the public security administration has become more vicious and the war atmosphere is intensifying.” “We do not want division, but we want to live proudly as one nation,” and “The United States must stop atrocities that turn other countries into battlefields.” “It will have to be done,” he said.

Hyun Pil-kyung, director of the U.S. Military Base Recovery Research Institute, said, “At the two U.S. military bases in Pyeongtaek, where the 2023 Ulchi Freedom Shield war exercise is in progress, different aspects from previous war exercises and the mobilization of new weapon systems were witnessed.” Training, so-called CBRN training to respond to chemical weapons, biological weapons, and nuclear materials, and gunnery practice at the Songtan U.S. Air Force Base were conducted, and CH-53 large transport helicopters and Boeing 707-based reconnaissance aircraft, which are rarely seen, were seen. They recently took off from Okinawa and flew to the Korean Peninsula. It is believed to be a reconnaissance aircraft of the RC-135 family, known for reconnaissance in and around the area.

He continued, “It has nothing to do with the interests of any working people in the world, and is an alliance solely for the comfort of the United States and its followers, which threatens their lives and plunges them into political powerlessness and economic poverty.” He emphasized, “Complete peace will be realized only when Taiwan is unified and the Okinawan people achieve the withdrawal of U.S. forces.”

Finally, the participants read the global anti-imperialist struggle statement, “Let us rise up in the anti-American, anti-fascist movement, remove the U.S. military and overthrow Yoon Seok-yeol!” and then sang the “Internationale.”

The following is the full statement:

This is a book review in Hankyoreh, south Korea's top center-left liberal paper.

Excerpts:

The book is “The Naked ROK-US Alliance,” written by Daegu University professor Kim Sung-hae, who completed a master’s in international affairs at the University of Georgia and a doctorate in journalism at the University of Pennsylvania.

As the book’s subtitle suggests, this book lists the “reasons for resolving to break up with America”

The first reason the author provides is the cost of the alliance. To maintain the alliance with the US, Korea must lend military bases free of charge, foot part of the bill for stationing US troops on the peninsula and be a major buyer of US-made weapons.

On top of these financial expenses are opportunity costs — the potential value of the numerous options Korea has had to forgo because of the alliance. Perhaps best-known was Korea’s decision to let the US deploy the THAAD missile-defense battery in 2016. That turned China, which had been Korea’s biggest trade surplus country since the two countries normalized their relations 30 years earlier, into a major trade deficit country.

Another reason cited by the author is that Korea’s duties as an ally could entangle it in an undesired conflict. There’s a growing danger of Korea being dragged into a war in Taiwan, should such a war occur.

The most serious issue, however, is that as Korea strengthens its alliance with the US, its enemies are growing more numerous, and stronger, too. It’s the US that defines those enemies, and Korea is left to passively follow its will.

The US may well view its rivals China and Russia as enemies, but Korea’s national interest is different from that of the US. There’s no inherent reason why Korea should be an enemy of China or Russia.

The author goes on to argue that Koreans are misguided in their belief that they owe the US gratitude for its role in defending them during the Korean War. While it’s true that the war began with North Korea’s invasion of the South, US actions strongly suggest it had been quietly hoping a war would break out, too.

In the first phase of the war, the US ignored a UN resolution by pushing north of the 38th parallel, which brought Communist China into the war with devastating consequences for the Korean Peninsula. The US also bears responsibility, either directly or indirectly, for the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people slaughtered in countless massacres, including the Bodo League massacre, the No Gun Ri massacre, and the Sinchon massacre.

And the Korean War’s impact on the US was not wholly negative. For example, the production of large amounts of military armaments throughout the war enabled the US to overcome the difficulties of an economic recession.

The author also asserts that the US was not the patron of Korean democracy and economic development that many Koreans believe it to have been. All the US wanted from Korea was a low level of modernization. Furthermore, the US was also happy to support dictatorial governments in Korea that butchered their own people so long as they helped block the communist threat. It’s a myth, the author says, that the US paved the way for Korea’s democratization and industrialization.

Another argument made in the book is that Koreans’ experience serving as “loyal subjects” of the Japanese empire during the colonial period prepared them for revering the US after Korea’s liberation.

In other words, Korea is honoring and obeying the US, just as it once did with the Japanese Empire. The fact that Korea has still not regained wartime operational control, or OPCON, of its own military illustrates its lack of autonomy.

While the US would only have control of 40,000 troops in NATO (as of February 2022), US Forces Korea with OPCON would be able to direct the 600,000 troops in the Korean military in the event of a war. Korea can hardly be regarded as having autonomy when it has put its entire military under American control.

For such reasons, the author asserts that Korea would be best served by dismantling its alliance with the US.

What alternatives are there? The author says the best option would be for South and North Korea to jointly adopt neutrality. Cracks in the US-led unipolar order, the international shift toward a multipolar system, and the international financial system’s move away from the US dollar are creating conditions favorable for such a change.

But setting aside the feasibility of that proposal, it’s worth pondering the author’s argument that if Korea is to achieve true autonomy, it must first wake from the stupor of blind obedience to the US.

This article is originally in Korean. These are some excerpts with machine translation and my slight additions:

Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Jeju April 3rd Peace Foundation announced that the identity of the missing April 3rd victim, whose fate was unknown, was confirmed in Golnyeonggol, Daejeon [Note: Several photos of violence and human remains are in that link], after 74 years.

The victims identified this time are 70 of the 1,441 remains excavated in Golnyeonggol through the first pilot project of 'Genetic identification of 4/3 victims from excavated remains from outside the province' conducted by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Jeju 4/3 Peace Foundation.

The person whose identity was confirmed was the late Kim Han-hong, from Bukchon-ri, Jocheon-myeon, Jeju-si. During the April 3 Incident, he was hiding in a field away from the village to avoid punitive forces and armed forces. He came to the military at the end of January 1949 and surrendered himself on the rumor that he would be set free if he surrendered. The bereaved family said that after being detained in the distillery camp, no news was heard.

The list of prisoners shows that the victim was sentenced to seven years in prison on July 4, 1949 and served his sentence at Daejeon Prison.

On October 4, the remains of the victims went through a handover process with the bereaved families, the Jeju April 3 Victims' Families Association, the Sanae Incident Victims' Families Association, and officials from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in attendance, and a ritual was held at Sejong Eunhasu Park under the auspices of the bereaved families, and then cremated in October. They are scheduled to be repatriated to Jeju by plane on the 5th.

At the site where the remains of the victims are returned to their hometown, the bereaved families and officials, including Governor Oh Young-hoon, will greet them in person, and a ceremony to return the remains will be held afterwards. Subsequently, an identification briefing session will be held on the same day to commemorate the victims and comfort their bereaved families.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is in the process of collecting remains from 2,000 of the 3,900 remains temporarily enshrined in the Sejong Memorial House, including the remains of the Daejeon Golryeonggol victims, and is conducting genetic tests on bereaved families. is planned to be carried out.

Chairman [of the Daejeon Mountain Incident Victims' Families Associatio] Jeon Mi-kyung said, “How good would it have been if something like this had happened to the families of the massacred people while they were still alive?” and “It breaks my heart that many family members of the massacred people are still passing away while the genetic identification is delayed.”

The son of the late Kim Han-hong, whose identity was recently confirmed through genetic identification, died in 2020 without being able to identify his father's remains. However, fortunately, he was able to confirm his identity because he left behind DNA data through blood collection while he was still alive.___

Excerpts:

Fifty-nine years ago, on Sept. 11, 1964, Korea sent 140 soldiers belonging to the medical corps to Vietnam as part of the war effort. Over the nine years that followed, South Korea would end up sending a total of 346,393 troops to fight in Vietnam in its Blue Dragon, Fierce Tiger, and White Horse divisions.

In 1999, Hankyoreh 21 broke the story that South Korean troops had massacred civilians in Vietnam with in-depth reporting. More than 20 years later, in February of this year, a South Korean court ruled that the country bears a legal liability to those victimized by these massacres. However, the South Korean government still insists that no such slaughter occurred.

This is the first time that Bình Thanh is being named in the history of Korea’s involvement in the Vietnam War that began in 1964. Bình Thanh is not mentioned in the official “War History of ROK Forces to Vietnam” published by Korea’s Department of Defense in 1979.

57 years ago, as a 10-year-old girl, Tống Thị Kim Loan said she picked peppers in the fields with her grandfather, Tống Mai. [...] the villagers had heard that South Korean soldiers couldn’t get enough of them. The young girl and her grandfather packed the peppers in small bags and took them to the Korean soldiers at the Go Cot base.

When Tống Thị Kim Loan’s grandfather, Tống Mai, arrived at a South Korean military post, he had Vietnamese peppers and a letter in his hand. He was accompanied by Cao Phó and Mai Cắt, who lived in his same village. The three of them represented the village and faced the South Koreans for the first time. All three were born in the 1890s and were over 70 years old at the time. Their letter to the South Koreans was written in Chinese characters. Having learned to read and write Chinese characters from a young age, they assumed that the Koreans would be able to read it as well.

The South Korean soldiers based in Bình Thanh did not have interpreters. The letter contained a heartfelt plea from the village elders: “The villagers are all innocent civilians. Please do not harm them.”

A young Tống Thị Kim Loan was holding her grandfather’s hand when he presented the Korean soldiers with the letter and his gift of peppers.

A month after Tống Thị Kim Loan and her grandfather offered the chilis to the soldiers, the South Korean soldiers paid a visit to Tống Thị Kim Loan’s neighborhood. Instead of gifts, they brought guns.

“All the village elders who visited the soldiers with the chilis died,” said Le Van Hien, 76. Presenting a list he wrote on the computer, Le Van Hien pointed at the three names at the top of the list: Tống Mai, Cao Phó and Mai Cắt. These were the names of the village elders who had visited the South Korean soldiers with the bag of chili peppers and a letter written in Chinese characters.

Le Van Hien has been recording the history of how the people of Bình Thanh fought against outside forces. His records from 1930 to 1975 have already been published into a book, which contains stories of people who died at the hands of South Korean soldiers.

Following the end of the Vietnam War in April 1975, memorial monuments were erected in villages where residents were lost at the hands of South Korean soldiers. Monuments of “hate” were built in places such as Bình Hòa and Phú Yên. In some regions, monuments were erected 50 years after the war.

“I will propose the erection of a monument of hate rather than a memorial monument,” said Le Van Hien, explaining that this is because all the victims were helpless elders, women and children. Referencing the Vietnamese government’s slogan of overcoming the past and moving toward the future, Le Van Hien wordlessly shook his head.

“Still, I can’t help but hate. Incidents like this should be abhorred forever,” he said.

North Korean athletes were officially welcomed at their living quarters in the Chinese city of Hangzhou for the 19th Asian Games on Friday, the eve of the opening ceremony of the quadrennial continental competition.

After official welcoming messages and gifts from host China, the North Korean delegation chanted rallying slogans and posed for a photo.

Most of them did not answer reporters on their way back to the residence, but a man who appeared to be a coach said their goal is to win and hoped for a good performance at the competition.

According to the organizers, North Korea has registered 185 athletes in 17 sports for the Asiad, the reclusive country's first appearance at an international multisport competition since the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.

North Korea finished 10th at the previous Asiad five years ago, with 12 golds, 12 silvers and 13 bronzes.

Article is from Sept. 14, 2023.

Excerpts:

News outlet Newstapa and broadcaster Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company (JTBC) have been raided by South Korean authorities after reporting in 2022 on an allegedly fake interview claimed to discredit then-Presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Journalists Association of Korea (JAK), condemn the intimidation and legal harassment of media workers and news outlets and urge the authorities to cease all investigations immediately.

On September 14, investigators and prosecutors with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office were dispatched to the offices of online news outlets Newstapa and broadcaster Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company (JTBC), seizing materials related to a 2021 interview between trade union leader and former journalist Shin Hak-lim and Kim Man-bae, a key figure in a land development scandal.

Announced on September 7, the decision by authorities to prosecute media professionals and outlets marks the first actioned prosecution related to press coverage since 2008. However, since his election in 2022, President Yoon has been at the centre of several attacks on press freedom. In October 2022, the MBC was targeted through legal action and protests led by PPP lawmakers, after the broadcaster allegedly misrepresented comments made by the President in a hot mic incident. President Yoon later excluded journalists and media workers with the outlet from a presidential envoy to the G20 in November.

JAK President Kim Dong-hoon said: “We express concern about the increasing intensity of the government's media suppression as we approach next year's general elections. The ruling party in South Korea, the People Power Party(PPP), has not only taken legal actions against media outlets and journalists who reported on the dialogue records of our fellow journalists, Shin Hak-lim and Kim Man-bae, both of whom have a journalism background but also against journalists who quoted and covered these records. Moreover, they have even targeted political commentators who wrote articles about the related content. Furthermore, they have filed defamation complaints against radio hosts who reported on the incident. […] The JAK, along with other major media organizations, is committed to staunchly opposing the ruling party's endeavours to manipulate the media and will dedicate their collective efforts to safeguarding press freedom.”

The IFJ said: “These raids and investigations against media outlets are the latest in a concerning trend of media rights violations led by the incumbent government in the Republic of Korea. The IFJ urges the prosecutors’ offices to withdraw all investigations against Newstapa, JTBC, and the outlets’ journalists, and calls on the People’s Power Party to ensure that press freedom is upheld and protected.”

"The combined number of those seeking to stay in China and those wanting to return to the North is actually greater than those hoping to reach South Korea."

"The more South Korea and the international community get involved in defector issues with their own political agenda, the more likely it is to end up further cementing our national division."

Lee Sung-hwan (pseudonym): "I hate being called a ‘defector.’ I didn’t leave because I’m opposed to the politics in North Korea. I’m just someone who left to earn money, and I plan to return once I’ve made some."

Note: Hankyoreh is a center-left liberal newspaper from South Korea.

Excerpts:

Since 1997, Cho has met with North Korean defectors primarily in China’s Yanbian prefecture and the North Korean-Chinese border region. Other than last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to visit China, he has met with defectors virtually every year for the past two decades or so. Based on his meetings, they presented quite a different image from the one commonly perceived in South Korea, he said.

For example, Cho administered a survey to 100 female North Korean defectors whom he had met with three or more times between August 2001 and October 2003. Forty-one of them said they wanted to travel to the South, while the other 59 did not: 34 wanted to return to North Korea, 21 hoped to remain in China, and four wanted none of the above. Indeed, Kim Ryon-hui, the so-called “Pyongyangite in Daegu,” has demanded repatriation ever since she arrived in the South in 2011, insisting that she only came because she had been “deceived by a broker.”

Lee Sung-hwan (pseudonym), one of the defectors who hoped to return to the North, is quoted as saying, “I hate being called a ‘defector.’ I didn’t leave because I’m opposed to the politics in North Korea. I’m just someone who left to earn money, and I plan to return once I’ve made some.”

Pak Kyong-hwa (pseudonym) is a native of Onsong, North Hamgyong Province, whom Cho met in the Chinese city of Yanji in 2014. “If it’s someone who left after committing a crime, someone who’ll be punished if they go back, you’ll never hear them talk about going back to North Korea. But people like us just quickly earn money and go back,” she explained.

“Certain brokers, NGOs and missionary groups have been orchestrating and expanding North Korean defections to South Korea for political purposes. And as certain far-right and conservative media in South Korea and Japan have either parroted the things they say or actively orchestrated things themselves, things have really crossed the line,” Cho said.

The primary victims of actions like these are the defectors themselves. Orchestrated defections lead to intensified controls on the North Korean-Chinese border, leaving far fewer options available to those who seek to remain in China or return to the North.

Some defectors, NGOs and missionary groups have also taken advantage of this “defector myth” to perpetrate fraud. As a representative example, Cho mentioned the Yerang Mission incident, which the Supreme Court declared a case of fraud in 2008. Beginning in the early 2000s, the mission appropriated over 2 billion won (US$1.8 million) in donations raised through internet posts about “risking death to evangelize in North Korea” and the “martyrdom and defections of North Koreans.” In 2006, the church was tried amid accusations by congregation members, and most of the messages it posted were found to have been false.

“The more South Korea and the international community get involved in defector issues with their own political agenda, the more likely it is to end up further cementing our national division,” he warned.

Related:

• Nearly 1 in 5 North Korean defectors say they regret coming to South Korea
• Interview: A North Korean mother’s quest to return home to Pyongyang
• [CW: Child abuse, SA] S. Korean pastor under investigation for molestation at the boarding school he established for N. Korean defectors
• "Spy Nation" (2016): Film Shines Light on South Korean Spy Agency’s Fabrication of Enemies
• Unreliable witnesses: The challenge of separating truth from fiction when it comes to North Korea
• The insidious threat of fake news surrounding North Korea