Lawmaker proposes bill to stop leaflet campaign
By Lee Min-hyung
Rep. Yoon Hu-duk
An opposition party lawmaker proposed a parliamentary bill Wednesday on banning sending anti-North Korea leaflets across the demilitarized zone without obtaining prior approval from the unification minister.
The bill, proposed by Rep. Yoon Hu-duk, 58, of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), prevents activists from sending balloons carrying such propaganda or any other printed material into the North.
“Border town residents are afraid of possible military provocations from the North,” Yoon Chang-oh, the lawmaker’s aide told The Korea Times, Thursday.
“What’s more serious is that the campaigns are a threat to the residents’ livelihood because fewer tourists are visiting border towns following an incident when North Korean soldiers shot at a number of balloons last month. The bill was proposed against this backdrop,” he added.
A group of North Korean defectors released the balloons near the border area of Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province resulting in the shooting incident. Soldiers in the South then fired back in response, and inter-Korean relations have once again deteriorated.
Residents in border town areas have called for the government to stop activist groups from sending such leaflets. But the government claims it needs to protect the right to free speech for citizens here.
Yoon proposed a resolution urging activist groups to stop the leaflet campaigns on Nov. 4, citing the need to protect the lives of residents in the border area.
“The recent leaflet campaigns are worsening relations between the two Koreas, endangering the lives of border town residents,” Yoon told the National Assembly last week when he presented the resolution.
Yoon, a first-term lawmaker, is now representing the border city of Paju, north of Seoul. Last Friday, an activist group here released balloons carrying approximately 300,000 anti-North Korea leaflets.
The North denounced the Seoul government for ridiculing the regime in Pyongyang, saying there would be no inter-Korean talks before the administration in the South puts a stop to the campaigns.
Inter-Korean relations showed signs of improvement after the North sent three high-ranking officials to the Incheon Asian Games in early October. Both sides agreed to hold high-level talks between late October and early November. But the envisioned high-level dialogue came to a halt following the increasing tension over the leaflet campaigns.