On June 24th, the south Korean prosecution announced the “results of investigation into cases of the violation of the ‘National Security Law’” and detained three members of the South Headquarters of the Pan-national Alliance for Korea’s Reunification (Pomminryon) on suspicion of violation of clause of “infiltration, escape, meeting and communication” of the “National Security Law”. The detainees are its Chairman Ri Kyu Jae, Secretary General Lee Keung Won and Propaganda Chairwoman Choe Un A.
The prosecution, in its “results of investigation”, distorted as if the South Headquarters of Pomminryon is a following organization to the north’s “order” and accused members of the Joint Office of Pomminryon in their regular communication activities between the north, south and abroad of the “spying”.
The South Headquarters of Pomminryon which founded in 1990 has been acting as a legal organization in south Korea for about 20 years. And the north, south and abroad headquarters of Pomminryon, with equal qualification, right and duty, unfolding the reunification movement independently adapted to the regional peculiarities have been informing each other of their activities via the Joint office and waging solidarity activities. These facts are clarified obviously in the Rules of Pomminryon that is already opened to the public.
Nevertheless, the south Korean authorities are regarding it as an illegality today, which is only for obliteration of the South Headquarters of Pomminryon.
The prosecution blamed the South Headquarters members’ legal meeting with the DPRK’s people in Pyongyang , Mt. Kumgang and etc. as “disguise of position and identity”. However, most of the south Korean people who have been to the DPRK or met the DPRK people after the June 15 Joint Declaration belong to not only one organization but also different ones and such multi-jobs are universal in the south Korean society.
The South Headquarters belongs to the Solidarity for Reunification and the June 15 South Committee, and its members who were detained this time had been legally acting with certain duties in such organizations and meeting with us. It is not a secret.
It is unreasonable for the prosecution who knows about this well to accuse only the South Headquarters’ members for so-called “disguise” and “infiltration”.
If logic of the prosecution is adopted, the visits to the DPRK of many personalities of all strata with different identities including pro-reunification or civil cooperation organizations would be all illegal and the authorities’ meetings with us in non-official position would be the spying.
The prosecution also blamed the South Headquarters’ assertion of national cooperation and withdrawal of the US troops from south Korea as the “enemy-benefit” and suspected them of crime of “production and distribution of expressions of enemy-benefit” for their protection and beautification of the DPRK via their own organ “National Course”.
It is the violation of the Universal Declaration on Human Right and the International Treaty on Civil and Political Right which determined the freedom of ideology and the right to express one’s own opinion without interference from anyone.
The national cooperation and the withdrawal of the US troops from south Korea are the fundamental issues to carve out destiny of the nation and achieve the reunification and fully coincide with the spirit of the July 4 Joint Declaration and the June 15 Joint Declaration.
As to this case, now all strata are strongly repelling while stating that the prosecution is casting a sensibly contradictory suspicion on the South Headquarters’ cadres, it is an assembled investigation to charge the civil pro-reunification movement with crime, the prosecution should immediately stop the backward and anti-reunification law executions such as making extraordinary criminal or enforcing the dead “National Security Law” being limbs of the Chong Wa Dae (the Presidential Mansion).
Especially, the Press Headquarters of South Committee of the June 15 Joint Declaration Practice issued a statement immediately to condemn that there contained a malicious intention to drive wedge between the future civil pro-reunification exchanges charging the civil-level pro-reunification movement with crime, and, regarding the reproach of content of the “National Course” article, revealed that the application of the belated “National Security Law ” to opinion expression via public media was an attempt to originally blockade freedom of the people’s expression on the south-north issue, and the “National Security Law” which is an anti-humanitarian evil law contrary to the Universal Declaration on Human Right had become a ridicule of the world.
The Joint Measure Committee of Civil Society to Cope With the Suppression of Pomminryon (Gongdaewi) which contains about 80 south Korean organizations held a press interview in Seoul to vigorously denounce that the prosecution was driving the legal civil pro-reunification movement to the illegal and spying case. It added to this that the case was aiming to propagate that the “declaration on the situation” issuance campaign throughout south Korea was the left-wingers’ doing and its genuine concerned party was the South Headquarters of Pomminryon as well as, at the same time, to adopt the different evil laws on this occasion. Now the “declaration on the situation” issuance campaign is taking place extensively throughout south Korea owing to the anger of popular masses on the murder case of the Ryongsan victims of housing withdrawal and political homicides of the former president Roh Moo Hyon, the honorary chairman of the South Headquarters of Pomminryon Kang Hui Nam and a worker Pak Jong Tae.
The above-mentioned cases are only a section of the south Korean authorities’ suppression of the pro-reunification democratic forces.
In late January, 2009, they defined a south Korean mass youth organization the “Hankook Conference of Youth Organizations” which was a pioneer of the reunification movement as a “enemy-benefitting organization” by the “National Security Law” to drive it to voluntary disorganization.
On April 21, 2009, they also defined the Solidarity for Implementing the South-North Joint Declaration of south Korea as a “enemy-benefitting organization” and imposed a heavy penalty upon its core members who had been detained last October by the “National Security Law”.
On May 7, 2009, they instructed the National Intelligence Agency, the security department of the Police Hall and the local police office to rummage the offices and houses of the North Chungchong Province Assoiation of the National General Federation of Farmers Associations, the core members of the North Chungchong Province Headquarters of the South Committee of the June 15 Joint Declaration Practice, the policy chairman of the Kangwon Province branch of the Democratic Labour Party and the Wonju Youth Association and Chunchon Youth Association of the Kangwon Conference of Youth Organizations and to arrest and detain some people.
The “National Security Law”, an evil law which had been used by the former military dictatorships to repress the movements for democracy, is an anachronistic one to obstruct the North and South to march toward the reunification.
Therefore, even the US Congress and the Amnesty International have also demanded the abolition of the “National Security Law” of south Korea .
However, the south Korean authorities are exercising “the National Security Law” to oppress the south Korean progressive organizations and people in their struggle for the national reconciliation and unity and for the independent reunification.
Recently, in spite of the unanimous protest of the opposition parties and different civil organizations, the south Korean authorities are going to totally block and intercept the elementary requirements of the people for freedom and democracy by railroading different evil laws such as “the amendment of law on assembly and demonstration”, “the amendment of law on national intelligence agency” and “the bill on media” through the National Assembly.
Now many organizations and personalities in different countries of the world including the United States , Japan and Germany have been conducting various activities including the issuance of solidarity statement to condemn the south Korean authorities’ suppression of Pomminryon and sending the letter of protest to the authorities.
The suppression of the south Korean pro-reunification and patriotic organizations who have been doing efforts for implementation of the North-South joint declarations and the national reunification linking with the DPRK is the all-out negation of the June 15 Joint Declaration and the October 4 Declaration and the open provocation against the DPRK as well as the anti-nation and anti-reunification crime to obliterate the south Korean pro-reunification democratic forces and inspire the fratricidal confrontation.
We expect that you who value the justice will vigorously condemn the south Korean authorities in their suppression of the pro-reunification patriotic forces including the South Headquarters of Pomminryon who have been positively struggling for the national reconciliation and unity as well as the independent peaceful reunification of the country and take various measures to demand to stop it immediately.
Yours in peace,
Korean Committee for Solidarity with the World People
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