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South Korea Faces Criticism for Crackdown on Leaflet Launchers

William Gallo

   SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who began his
   career as a human rights lawyer, is coming under severe criticism for
   cracking down on activist groups calling for reform in North Korea.

   The Moon administration has carried out a broad campaign to prevent the
   organizations, mostly led by North Korean defectors, from floating
   balloons and bottles filled with propaganda leaflets into the North.

   The leaflets often criticize North Korea's human rights record or mock
   North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and are sometimes packaged with items
   of value, such as dollar bills or USB flash drives loaded with South
   Korean dramas.

   North Korea, which forbids access to the outside world, has complained
   bitterly about the leaflets. Last month North Korea demolished the de
   facto inter-Korean embassy just north of the border and threatened
   unspecified military action unless Seoul stopped the launches.

   The Moon government, which wants to improve ties with Pyongyang, says
   the crackdown is necessary to reduce military tensions. But activists
   say the government's response is unprecedented and may be fatal for
   many groups working on North Korean human rights.

   Fierce crackdown

   Over the past several weeks, South Korean authorities have raidedthe
   offices of non-governmental organizations, filed criminal complaints
   against the groups, and in some cases evensurveilled, briefly detained
   or physically blocked activists as they head to or from launch sites.

   Authorities have also moved to formally outlaw the launches and
   threatened to imprison violators forayear.

   Last week, South Korea's Unification Ministry revoked the NGO licenses
   of two of the most prominent leaflet campaign groups, complicating
   their ability to raise money. Officials have warned they will inspect
   25 more groups, raising fears their licenses too will be cancelled.

   On Monday, a group of South Korean NGOs appealed to the United Nations
   for help against what they called an "unjustified and politically
   motivated" investigation. The actions, they said, risk "stifling...the
   entire North Korean human rights movement in South Korea."

   Global condemnation

   Many international rights groups have also condemned the crackdown with
   unusual bluntness.

   "Rather than kowtow to Kim JongUn'ssister, South Korea should be
   standing up for its own principles," saidPhil Robertson of Human Rights
   Watch.

   Last month, Kim JongUn'ssister, KimYoJong, called the leaflet launchers
   "human scum" and "mongrel dogs." Within hours, South Korea began
   pressuring the NGOs, raising accusations Moon was stifling free speech
   in order to placate the North.

   "I think President Moon and his people are so deep into this they don't
   see they're no longer making sense," saidRobertson. "Their actions are
   now violating the rights they spent their entire careers trying to
   build up."
   The U.N. Human Rights Office in Seoul also questioned the decision to
   revoke the NGO licenses, according to theDong-Anewspaper.

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