Progressive activist Han breaks North travel ban

A progressive South Korean activist has traveled to Pyongyang in what

appears to be the first violation of Seoul’s recent ban on exchanges with

North Korea.

The North’s state-run media Korean Central News Agency reported that

the Rev. Han Sang-ryeol arrived in Pyongyang on Saturday to attend the

10th anniversary ceremony of the first inter-Korean summit in 2000.

An Kyong-ho, a senior North Korean official in charge of the event,

greeted Han as he arrived at Pyongyang. Shortly after his arrival, Han

issued a statement saying that he risked his life to travel to Pyongyang for

the two Koreas’ unification, the news report said.

Han appeared to have flown from Beijing. The Unification Ministry said

yesterday that the government had not granted Han permission to visit

the North. Since May 24, all South Koreans have been barred from visiting destinations in North Korea other than Kaesong Industrial Complex and

Mount Kumgang resort, as part of the South’s response to the North’s torpedo attack on the South’s warship Cheonan on March 26.

Han is the first person to have violated the ban, the ministry said, and faces

punishment upon his return. Han, 60, a well-known activist and a pastor, is

a co-founder of the Korea Alliance for Progressive Movement, established in September 2007. He is one of the nation’s most famous activists, and was

one of the main instigators of the anti-government protests that demanded

the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Korea. Police investigated Han for staging violent street demonstrations without authorization two years ago

after he helped organize rallies against the Lee Myung-bak administration

over its decision to reopen the Korean market to U.S. beef.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/print.asp

S.Korean activist visits Pyongyang despite government ban

Reverend Han Sang-ryeol, standing advisor of the Korea Alliance for Progressive Movement, rec eives flowers upon arrival in Pyongyang to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Decl aration, June 12. Han traveled to Pyongyang in violation of a government ban. 　

Although the Lee Myung-bak administration has banned South Koreans from

visiting North Korea with the exception of the Kaesong Industrial Complex and

Kumgang Mountains, Reverend Han Sang-ryeol, standing advisor of the Korea

Alliance for Progressive Movement, visited Pyongyang Saturday without

government permission.

North Korea’s Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Saturday that Han

arrived in Pyongyang and was greeted with fraternal affection by North Korean

members of the Committee for Implementing the June 15 Joint Declaration,

including committee Chairman An Kyong-ho. Upon arriving at the airport, Han

said the adoption of the June 15 Joint Declaration ended inter-Korean

confrontation and opened an era of peace. He said he risked his life to come to

Pyongyang to contribute to Korean reconciliation, peace and reunification.

Han reportedly left South Korea on June 5 and traveled to Pyongyang via China.

Han made his journey after inter-Korean commemorative events for the June 15

Joint Declaration in Pyongyang were cancelled when the South Korean authorities

banned South Koreans from attending. An official from the Korea Alliance for

Progressive Movement said Sunday

“We learned of Han’s visit only when we saw the news reports,” said a

representative of the Korea Alliance for Progressive Movement on Sunday. “It

appears Han made the trip based on a personal decision.”

An official from the Unification Ministry said they never received an application

from Han to visit North Korea. He also said that authorities would deal with Han

in accordance with the law, should he return, since visiting North Korea without

permission is a violation of laws regulating inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation. He added that the security authorities would decide whether Han

violated the National Security Law based on the objective of his visit and his

activities in North Korea.

Han has been a minister at Gobaek Church in Jeonju since 1986. He has been

part of the unification movement as standing representative of the Unification

Alliance formed in 2001. After the Unification Alliance became the Korea Alliance

for Progressive Movement in 2007, he served as standing representative and then

standing advisor. In August 2008, when he was standing representative of the

Korea Alliance for Progressive Movement, he was detained on charges of leading

candlelight vigil demonstrations against the import of U.S. beef.

http://www.hani.co.kr/popups/print.hani?ksn=425503

Uncertainties Hobble S.Korea's Response to Cheonan Sinking

South Korea's response to North Korea's sinking of the Navy corvette

Cheonan is being increasingly blunted after encountering resistance

on all fronts. President Lee Myung-bak announced a list of steps against North

Korea over the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan in an address to

the nation on May 24, but counter-threats from North Korea and lack

of support from China have thrown a spanner in the works.

◆ China's Reluctance

Seoul on June 5 officially referred the sinking to the UN Security

Council's 15 permanent and non-permanent members by sending a

letter to chairman Claude Heller of Mexico. The cooperation of

permanent member China is needed for a resolution against the

North, but Beijing, a close North Korea ally, is sitting on the fence.

Seoul's diplomatic efforts have focused on persuading Beijing.

Second Vice Foreign Minister Chun Young-woo met senior Chinese

Foreign Ministry officials in Beijing for three days from Tuesday to

convince them that a UNSC resolution should make clear that the

sinking was the result of an "armed attack from the North." But Beijing

is unwilling to accept the wording.

On June 2, chief nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-lac went to Russia to

seek cooperation. A Russian team of naval experts have checked the

finding of an international probe into the sinking and they seemed to

conclude there is insufficient evidence to implicate North Korea. But

their official conclusions will only be announced next month.

A South Korean Foreign Ministry official expressed hope that China

could change its mind if Russia comes on side.

◆ Trade Sanctions

The Unification Ministry has halted all inter-Korean economic

cooperation and exchange projects except the joint-Korean Kaesong

Industrial Complex, as announced on May 24.

The North is estimated to lose over US$320 million per year in cash

revenue alone. The industrial park has been maintained, but the

number of South Korean staff there was cut by half from about 1,000

to about 500. A government official said the South could suspend

operation of the industrial park if the North bans South Korean staff

from traveling and leaves them stranded there, or detains any of

them.

If the industrial park is closed, the North would lose some $40 million-

$50 million per year in what is nominally billed as "salaries" for 43,000

North Korean workers there.

◆ Military Exercise Delayed

The Defense Ministry decided to delay or downscale a joint South

Korea-U.S. military exercise in the West Sea and propaganda

broadcasts across the military demarcation line. Seoul and

Washington had planned to start the joint maritime exercise in the

West Sea on Tuesday but put it off until after mid-June.

Despite the ministry's claim that it is "adjusting" the schedule to

"maximize the effects" of the exercise, there is widespread

speculation that this is due to opposition from Beijing, which does not

want a noisy U.S. military presence on its doorstep.

The ministry also planned to resume propaganda broadcasts

immediately, but loudspeakers had been set up along only 11

locations along the demilitarized zone by Wednesday, mostly

concealed. And it is still unclear when the actual broadcasts will start

or whether they will resume at all, apparently for fear of skirmishes

after the North threatened to shoot down the loudspeakers if they do.

http://english.chosun.com/svc/news/printContent.html

Companies in Gaeseong Want Lifting of Restrictions

Officials of an association representing South Korean companies that are running in the Gaeseong Industrial Park in North Korea reportedly visited the park on Tuesday to check business operations.

The officials quoted factory supervisors in the industrial complex as saying that their operations were being affected by the South Korean government’s restriction on the number of South Koreans staying at the complex.

The association plans to submit a proposal to the Unification Ministry to lift the restriction to ensure smooth business activities at the inter-Korean industrial complex.

The Unification Ministry ordered South Korean companies to cut the number of their workforce in the Gaeseong complex late last month after investigators announced that the Cheonan warship was sunk by a North Korean torpedo.

Meanwhile, companies that set up enterprises at the joint industrial park after the Lee Myung-bak government took office held a separate meeting. They reportedly plan to ask the government to provide insurance coverage for losses incurred from the imposed travel restrictions to the Gaeseong complex.

http://world.kbs.co.kr/news_print.htm?lang=e&No=73198&Category=News

Ministry further restricts trade with North Korea

South Korean goods and services going in or out of North Korea will now

have to be approved by the unification minister, according to the ministry

yesterday. Trade with the Kaesong Industrial Complex will be the only

exception to the rule, which takes effect Monday, the ministry said.

This is a follow-up to South Korea’s decision on May 24 to halt all inter-

Korean trade, except that at Kaesong, as punishment for the sinking of the

South Korean corvette Cheonan in March, which the South has blamed on

the North.

“To effectively implement the government’s decision to halt inter-Korean

trade, we revised the rules regarding the approval processes regarding

goods and services crossing the inter-Korean border,” said Chun Hae-sung,

spokesman for the ministry, in a media briefing.

Until yesterday, items traded with North Korea didn’t need to be

individually approved. The report by the Korea Development Institute said

the suspension of trade will cost North Korea about $280 million annually.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/print.asp

Daily Ordeal of S.Koreans at Kaesong Industrial Park

A South Korean who works at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in

North Korea has recounted recent unwelcome encounters at the joint-

Korean industrial park after Seoul cut all other trade ties with the

North amid escalating tensions. "At around 8 p.m., a dark figure

appeared in front of me as I was bicycling and I thought it was a North

Korean worker, but it was an armed soldier inside the complex," the

man said in an e-mail. "I was so scared that I couldn't even look at

him."

The Unification Ministry said allowing armed soldiers into the complex

is a violation of an inter-Korean accord. "What person in his right mind

would dare to ask an armed North Korean soldier what he's doing

there, especially when these soldiers look at South Koreans with

animosity?" the worker said.

He said armed sentries are posted at every guard post on the outer

limits of the complex and South Korean staff "are afraid of even going

for walks along those areas for fear of getting shot." When the U.S.

and South Korea were holding joint military exercises in March, the

tannoy in the complex blared out anti-South Korean propaganda

programs, including threats of deadly retribution against the South in

return for even a minor incursion across the border. "I was surprised

to hear the broadcasts, which threatened it is ready to kill all South

Koreans," the man said.

The worker said he is "sick and tired" of the frequent thefts and fines

imposed on South Koreans there. "Once I saw North Korean workers

sitting on the lawn and when I looked more closely, I realized that they

were picking out seeds," he said. "They were ordered to steal even

grass seeds." Food, office supplies and toilet paper regularly

disappear.

The North Korean authorities also impose various fines on South

Koreans to earn valuable U.S. dollars. A South Korean woman was

fined for wearing a short skirt, and other South Koreans were fined for

pointing at a mountain, smoking while driving and even for being

slightly late for work or for not leaving the complex on time.

"They fine us US$50 with unbelievable excuses," the man said. "They

seem to look at us as an endless source of money." Guidelines for the

joint industrial complex are constantly being abused by the North

Korean authorities to milk more money out of South Koreans.

The Unification Ministry said it had no statistics showing how much money

in fines South Korean workers have paid. Officials overseeing the complex apparently confiscate one out of two Choco Pie snacks that are given to North Korean workers.

"One day, I saw North Korean workers collecting empty Choco Pie boxes and

found out that they were filling each of them up with dozens of Choco

Pies they confiscated and were exporting them to China as new

products," the worker said.

Each North Korean worker at the complex is nominally paid between

$70 to $80 a month, but they rarely get to see that money.

The North Korean government takes away between $50 to $60 dollars,

and workers get the remaining $20 in food vouchers or exchanged into

North Korean money. The man said he met some workers who did

not know the dollar is the currency used in the U.S.

North Korean customs officials are also notorious for extortion.

When they find something new and interesting while checking through the

bags of South Koreans, they pounce. Customs confiscate anything

from cigarettes -- Marlboro being the most popular brand -- to shiny

key holders and put them in their own pockets.

"The South Korean government is also to blame," the man said. Seoul

reduced the number of South Koreans at the joint industrial complex

from 1,000 to 500 following the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan.

"Whether it's 1,000 South Korean lives, 500 or even one, each life is

valuable, but with that pointless staff reduction, work has simply

become more difficult," he added.

http://english.chosun.com/svc/news/printContent.html

S.Korean Businesses Want Trade Ban with N.Korea Lifted

South Korean manufacturers at the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex

in the North are calling on the government to end the ban on trade

with North Korea.

In a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday, a group of textile

manufacturers which have their goods made by North Korean plants

asked the government to allow them to supply resources to the North

and bring finished goods to the South.

The trade ban was imposed after an inquiry found North Korea sank

the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March.

http://english.chosun.com/svc/news/printContent.html