Labor Party Hits NK for Killing Tourist
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The progressive Democratic Labor Party (DLP) urged Pyongyang to make a public apology for the killing of a South Korean tourist during a tour to North Korea's Mount Geumgang and demanded measures to ensure there would be no recurrence.
``North Korean authorities overseeing cultural heritages there expressed regret over the killing, but the statement is not enough to convince the South Korean people that it was a public apology,'' said DLP Spokesman Park Seung-eop. ``A more responsible government authority should make an apology.''
Political analysts question whether the DLP is making a U-turn from what the other parties have called its blind pursuit of a pro-Pyongyang stance.
Party insiders said unless the DLP clarifies its position on the crucial incident, the party may project the wrong impression that it stands by Pyongyang. They said an innocent South Korean tourist was victimized by what they called an overreaction from the North.
The DLP has been in the eyes of many North Korea-friendly, shaped and further cemented after the so-called Ilshimhoe espionage scandal in 2006 where two DLP leaders were found to have collaborated with a North Korean spy.
Prosecutors were briefed at the time that the two including the then deputy secretary-general contacted a North Korean espionage ring in China and received directives on launching anti-American struggle in the South.
The DLP denied the results of the investigation, saying the prosecutors were wrongly trying to paint them as Communist sympathizers.
A year later, however, the Supreme Court confirmed the findings of the verdict, dealing a blow to the party and resulting in jail terms for key members. Following the espionage scandal, its influence waned as was evidenced in the presidential and general elections.
Opponents accused the DLP of what they call a ``blind pursuit of a pro-North Korea stance'' after the scandal.
The espionage case also amplified feuds between two factions inside the party, supporters of National Liberation (NL) and those of People's Democracy (PD), respectively.
The two names originally came from the National Liberation of People's Democratic Revolution.
The hardline NL supporters focused on the liberation activities and backed anti-American movements. The relatively moderate PD members, meanwhile, put an emphasis on democracy and their activities were primarily concerned with anti-authoritarianism.
After the scandal, some PD moderates such as then lawmaker Shim Sang-jeong proposed a reform plan to the DLP leadership, demanding the DLP walk away from its pro-North Korea stance.
Then party leaders, who were NL supporters, however, rejected this. After reform was stranded, the moderates left the DLP to form a party of their own.
The split in the progressive party harmed those left in the April 9 elections. The NL-dominated DLP barely managed to survive the elections, which were swept by conservatives, securing just five seats, while the PD-led progressive members failed to get a single seat.