Latest news with #inter-Korea
Saudi Gazette
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Seoul returns six North Koreans with 'strong desire' to go back
SEOUL — South Korea has repatriated six North Koreans who accidentally drifted into South Korean waters earlier this year. All six had consistently expressed their desire to go back, Seoul's Ministry of Unification said. Two of the North Koreans had veered into southern waters in March and stayed on for four months - the longest period recorded for non-defectors. The other four are sailors who drifted across a disputed maritime border between the North and the South in May. This is the first such return under the presidency of South Korea's Lee Jae-myung, who had campaigned on improving inter-Korea ties. The two countries unsuccessfully tried to co-ordinate the return for months. There have been several previous cases of North Koreans sailing unintentionally into the South. They often use small, wooden boats that cannot be easily steered back onto their course once adrift. In the past, authorities in the two countries would co-ordinate to send those who wished to return to the North back via their land Pyongyang had cut off all inter-Korea communication lines in April 2023 amid heightened months later, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared that unification with the South is no longer only known channels of communication that remain are the US-led United Nations Command and through the news Ministry of Unification said it had tried twice to inform the North of its intention to send these six people home via the United Nations Command, but did not receive a Korean patrol vessels and fishing boats were spotted at the handover point on Wednesday morning, leading some observers to believe the two Koreas would have agreed on a repatriation plan "behind the scenes"."If you set a boat adrift in the vast ocean without any co-ordination, there's a real risk it could drift away again," says Nam Sung-wook, the former head of the Korea National Strategy Institute think believes the six people will be interrogated at length when they return to the North."They'll be grilled on whether they received any espionage training or overheard anything sensitive. [It will be] an intense process aimed at extracting every last piece of information," he tells BBC the investigation is over, they may be asked to help spread propaganda. Their desire to return to the North "strengthens the legitimacy of [Kim's] regime", adds Lim Eul-chul, a professor specialising in North Korean studies in Kyungnam Madden, a North Korea expert from the Stimson Center in Washington, pointed out that the boats drifted south when South Korea was being led by interim presidents following former President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment."This may have delayed some decision making in both Koreas."Pyongyang certainly did not trust the Yoon remnants in South Korea, and both Koreas could have been open to accusations of an unlawful repatriation out of political expedience by the international community," he repatriations have left some North Korean defectors Lee Min-bok says the six people "should have been given a chance to talk to defectors and learn more about South Korean society"."If I'd had the chance to speak with them, I would have told them the truth [about inter-Korean history] and warned them that they could eventually face punishment from the North Korean regime, simply because they had already experienced life in the South," says Mr Lee, who used to float balloons with anti-Kim leaflets into the Mr Lee and other activists are expecting crackdowns from South Korea's new, pro-engagement National Assembly is currently debating a bill to ban such balloon Jae-myung, who was elected South Korea's president in June, has pledged to restart dialogue with Pyongyang and to reduce tensions between the two countries.A week after he took office, South Korea's military suspended its loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts across the border to North Korea - in what it described as a move to "restore trust in inter-Korean relations and achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula".Some analysts, however, do not expect a major improvement of ties between the Korea has "built up solid co-operation" with Russia, and now has "little need" to engage the South, says Celeste Arrington, director of The George Washington University Institute for Korean opinion in the South also suggests little appetite for engaging with the North, she says."Thus, there are few signals, if any, of re-establishing lines of communication between the North and the South, let alone meaningful warming of relations." — BBC
AsiaOne
07-07-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
South Korea's balloon crackdown hits anti-North Korea activists, Asia News
POCHEON, South Korea — The equipment activist Lee Min-bok uses to send balloons laden with anti-Kim Jong-un leaflets across the border from South Korea into the North has been gathering dust and cobwebs for months. When it became clear that centre-left politician Lee Jae-myung was on track to win the June presidential election, Lee Min-bok was among several South Korea-based activists who stopped their missions, anticipating a crackdown by the new, pro-engagement administration. Lee Jae-myung, a former human rights lawyer, is pushing to ease tensions with Pyongyang and last month said activists should be "severely punished" if they continue the balloon operations that anger North Korea. "I've been doing it quietly and what's wrong with that? Provoking North Korea? No way," 67-year-old Lee Min-bok told Reuters as he stood next to a rusting truck equipped with a hydrogen tank for filling balloons. "But realistically, look how serious it is right now. Police are out there and if I move, everything will be reported." For years, police have monitored Lee from the home next door — one plainclothes officer told Reuters they are there to protect him from potential North Korean threats — but instead of checking weather reports for ideal balloon launching conditions, Lee now spends his days writing online posts criticising the South Korean government. Calls to activists The activists, many of whom are North Korean defectors like Lee, are used to being at the centre of geopolitical tensions. An attempt by a previous liberal president to ban the balloon launches was struck down as unconstitutional. And last year, North Korea began launching waves of its own balloons into the South, some carrying garbage and excrement. Lee, who took office on Wednesday (June 4), has promised to improve relations with the nuclear-armed North, saying tensions with Pyongyang have had a real negative economic impact. He has urged diplomacy and dialogue and his administration has also suspended anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts along the border. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, however, last year abandoned a goal of unification with the South and has shown little openness to diplomacy. After Lee ordered measures to stop leaflet launches, officials and police discussed plans including deploying police to border regions to preempt launches, and punishing the activists by using regulations such as aviation safety laws, according to the Unification Ministry that handles inter-Korea affairs. Several groups in the South regularly send balloons to the North carrying leaflets, bibles, food, money, and various media. In the past year, police have investigated about 72 cases of anti-North leaflet activities and sent 13 to prosecutors, another police official said. They are still looking into 23 cases, the official added. Police are also investigating six Americans who attempted to deliver around 1,300 plastic bottles filled with rice, dollar notes and Bibles to North Korea. "Fear is spreading. The mood is bloody intense," said another North Korean defector-turned-activist who had secretly flown balloons once or twice a month for more than a decade. The activist said he had paused the launches this spring when polls showed Lee was likely to win the election. "I get calls from the government recently that apparently want to check in, to see whether I am going to send the balloons or not," said the Seoul-based activist, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals. Choi Sung-yong, leader of the Abductees' Family Union who works to bring home South Koreans abducted by North Korea, said his group had decided to suspend the balloon launches after receiving calls from new government officials. Chung Dong-young, the Unification Minister nominee, said last month he rang Choi and thanked him for reconsidering the balloon launches which Chung described "a catalyst to confrontation and hostilities" between the two Koreas. 'Right balance' North Korean officials have labelled leaflet activists in South Korea "human scum" and in 2020 demolished an inter-Korean liaison office during a spat over leaflets. In 2022, they claimed the balloons could carry the coronavirus. The Lee administration's moves have been welcomed by some residents who have said the launches put them at risk. "I feel much more comfortable and hopeful… People couldn't sleep," said Park Hae-yeon, 65, a farmer in Paju whose family runs a restaurant near the border. "Now I am hearing leaflets not being distributed, I see a sign of hope." James Heenan, who represents the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Seoul, told Reuters that leaflet operations are a matter of free expression that need to be balanced with legitimate national security concerns. "We hope the right balance will be struck," he said, noting that previous punishments were overly harsh. [[nid:719580]]
Japan Times
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
North Korea demolishing family reunion center, Seoul says
Seoul – North Korea is demolishing a venue that for decades hosted tearful reunions of families separated by the Korean War and the division of the country, Seoul said Thursday. The reunions at the North's Mount Kumgang, last held in 2018, were a testament to the devastating human cost of the Korean Peninsula's division. But the meetings were subject to the vagaries of inter-Korea politics and often used as a negotiating tool by Pyongyang. "The demolition of the Mount Kumgang Reunion Center is an inhumane act that tramples on the earnest wishes of separated families," a spokesperson for Seoul's unification ministry said. South Korea "sternly urges an immediate halt to such actions" and "expresses strong regret."
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Korea demolishing family reunion centre, Seoul says
North Korea is demolishing a venue that for decades hosted tearful reunions of families separated by the Korean War and the division of the country, Seoul said Thursday. The reunions in the North's Kumgang mountain, last held in 2018, were a testament to the devastating human cost of the Korean peninsula's division. But the meetings were subject to the vagaries of inter-Korea politics and often used as a negotiating tool by Pyongyang. "The demolition of the Mount Kumgang Reunion Center is an inhumane act that tramples on the earnest wishes of separated families," a spokesperson for Seoul's unification ministry said. South Korea "sternly urges an immediate halt to such actions" and "expresses strong regret". "North Korea's unilateral demolition cannot be justified under any pretext, and the North Korean authorities must bear full responsibility for this situation," the spokesperson added. Since 1988, around 130,000 South Koreans have registered their "separated families". As of 2025, around 36,000 of those individuals are still alive, according to official data. Seventy-five percent say they do not know if their relatives are alive or dead. Some were lucky enough to be chosen to take part in occasional crossborder reunions, mostly hosted at the Mount Kumgang resort. - Separated for life - North and South Korea held the first such reunion in 1985, but it was not until 2000 that they became regular events following the first inter-Korean summit that year. The reunions were marked by emotional scenes of families tearfully reuniting and parting after brief days of meeting. Relations between the two Koreas are now at one of their lowest points in years, with the North launching a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last year declared Seoul his "principal enemy" and renounced his government's long-held goal of re-unification. Pyongyang has also bombarded the South with trash-carrying balloons, in what it says is retaliation for anti-Pyongyang propaganda missives sent north by activists. The reunion program has been effectively halted, leaving tens of thousands of separated families with dwindling hopes of ever seeing their loved ones again. kjk-oho/lb
