Seoul says ideological feud over anti-Pyongyang leaflets undesirable

By Shim Sun-ah
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government said Wednesday the
country's burgeoning ideological divide over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets
was "undesirable" and might give a "wrong message" to the communist nation amid
deteriorating cross-border relations.
Activists from groups who regularly send balloons carrying flyers to North Korea
clashed Tuesday with tens of opponents from liberal groups protesting against the
campaign as they attempted to launch a new batch of balloons at a port near the
western sea border between the two Koreas. One activist was hospitalized after
being hit on the head with a wrench wielded by a protester.
Earlier this week, North Korea took a series of measures to retaliate for what it
called Seoul's confrontational policy -- ranging from suspending cross-border
rail services, sightseeing tours to the ancient North Korean city of Kaesong to
limiting traffic across the border with the South.
"The dispute between civic groups over the leaflets could send a wrong message to
North Korea and thus is undesirable," Kim Ho-nyoun, spokesman for the Unification
Ministry dealing with North Korea, said in a press briefing.
He said the government will continue efforts to dissuade the groups from sending
the leaflets, which the North apparently regards as a formidable threat to its
survival.
North Korea has threatened to cut all ties with Seoul if it fails to stop the
conservative activists from sending the leaflets.
The clash underscored South Korea's deepending ideological divide over sensitive
political and social issues.
Conservatives claim leafleting is an effective means of helping North Koreans see
the truth in a country where the use of radio and television as well as the
internet is limited. Liberals, to the contrary, believe it would only enrage
North Korea and result in deteriorated ties.
On Wednesday, tens of conservative activists gathered again at the Imjin
pavillion in Paju near the western sea border and sent ten balloons with 100,000
flyers to North Korea. The event proceeded peacefully with about 200 policemen
nearby to prevent clash between civic groups.
But more of such clashes are expected with conservative activists vowing to send
flyers almost every day this week if weather permits.
About 30 right-leaning organizations, including those representing Korean War
veterans and families of soldiers and civilians killed in the war, announced
after Tuesday's incident that they will attend future events to send leaflets.
The two Koreas turned off loud speakers installed along the heavily armed
frontline and stopped sending leaflets after they agreed in 2004 to halt Cold
War-style propaganda warfare. But South Korean activists, mostly defectors from
North Korea and activists working to promote human rights and democracy in the
communist state, have not stopped their campaign.
Experts say the leaflets have struck a nerve because they often contain
information on the 66-year-old North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's reported health
problems, of which most North Koreans are likely unaware, in recent months.
South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials have said the North Korean leader
suffered a stroke in the middle of August. North Korea has vehemently denied the
reports.
Many of the leaflets criticize Kim for enjoying a lavish life while his people
suffer from chronic food shortages and urge North Koreans to rise up against the
"killer whose death is approaching."
The leaflets sometimes are mixed with U.S. dollar bills or Chinese yuan notes to
entice North Koreans to pick them up. In the impoverished nation, one can live a
month on one dollar, according to Park Sang-hak, a North Korea defector whose
group has been sending the leaflets for about four years.
Pyongyang has recently mobilized soldiers to collect leaflets that have fallen on
western coastal towns near the border, Washington-based Radio Free Asia reported
on Tuesday, citing Chinese sources well-informed on North Korea.
Inter-Korean relations have deteriorated since the conservative South Korean
President Lee Myung-bak took office in February and pledged to get tough with
Pyongyang which conducted a nuclear test in 2006.
Lee has also shown reluctance to carry out agreements signed by his two liberal
predecessors and North Korean leader Kim. The most recent summit agreement,
signed in 2007, includes a slew of cross-border economic projects that would
require massive South Korean investment in the impoverished communist state.
sshim@yna.co.kr
(END)