By Kim Young-jin
North Korean defectors and other activists fighting to empower the impoverished population of the Stalinist country sent anti-regime leaflets contained in balloons across the border, Monday, to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of one of their leaders.
Hwang Jang-yop, the highest-ranking North Korean to defect and a vocal critic of the Kim Jong-il regime, died Oct. 10 last year in his Seoul home of natural causes. He was viewed as a leader of the defector community.
Fighters For Free North Korea, led by defector Park Sang-hak said it sent the balloons carrying 200,000 anti-North Korea leaflets. The action also coincided with the Kim Jong-il regime’s observance of the 66th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean ruling Workers' Party the same day.
The North was expected to hold a massive military parade to mark the anniversary.
For Park, whose activities often draw heavy media attention, it was the first public balloon launch since he was recently targeted in an alleged assassination plot. But he played down any connection to the attempt on his life.
“This is not something personal connected to the (attempted assassination) incident. It’s about observing the death of Hwang Jang-yeop and it’s a continuation of our work,” he said.
Last month, an alleged North Korean agent was nabbed by authorities after he set up a rendezvous with Park carrying a poison-tipped needle.
The alleged attempt reminded South Koreans of a similar attempt on Hwang’s life not long before he died. The late defector designed the regime’s “Juche” philosophy of self-reliance before he escaped while on a trip to Japan.
The fresh launch also came as Pyongyang, which bristles at any dissemination of information about its regime or the outside world among its people, has recently stepped up its rhetoric against such actions.
It warned over the weekend that it would fire southward if any leaflets were launched on the anniversary saying it amounted to psychological warfare aimed at toppling the regime. Pyongyang often issues fiery threats through its mouthpiece media.
It has also accused Seoul of beaming anti-regime propaganda broadcasts into the North using the frequency bandwidth of the North's state media since August.
The government has yet to officially comment on the accusation. One official said on condition of anonymity said Seoul considered it “routine.”
The propaganda launches were discouraged under previous liberal administrations. But the Lee Myung-bak quietly let them resume in the wake of two deadly attacks on the South last year. Tensions remain high since the attacks, which killed a total of 50 South Koreans.