How North Korea Tried to Pick the Mayor of Seoul
[Previous posts on the Il Shim Hue cell here, here, and here]
A new report, not yet available in English, claims that North Korea used the Fifth Columnists of the “Il Shim Hue” to help the ruling leftist Uri Party in local elections last May. The report, based on leaks from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, claims that North Korea used Il Shim Hue (rough translation: The One-Minded Hundred) to direct the Democratic Labor Party throw its votes and support to the Uri Party to prevent the GNP candidate, Oh Se Hoon, from winning. Oh won, defeating Uri Justice Minister Kang Kum-Sil.
North Korea also directed Il Shim Hue to assemble detailed dossiers on South Korean politics: politicians, civic groups, issues, parties, you name it. One particular issue that concerned them was how South Koreans reacted to North Korea’s recent nuke test. The NIS claims that Il Shim Hue members canvassed popular sentiment about the test throughout South Korean society. Recent polls show a substantial minority (but thankfully, still a minority) blamed America for North Korea’s nuke test, something the ruling party eagerly latched onto.
Another huge shocker: North Korea had plans to infiltrate environmental groups to use them to inspire more anti-American sentiment. You may recall the recent South Korean film, “The Host,” a monster flick loosely based on a 2000 incident in which a civilian mortician on a U.S. Army post dumped a small amount of highly dilute formaldeyde into the Han River. The incident became a huge story in the South, and “The Host” inspired some icky and unhinged anti-American comments from one ruling party legislator, which neither the legislator nor his party have retracted, to my knowledge.
As represented by USFK’s illegal release of formaldehyde into the Han River, the tragedy on the Korean Peninsula began with the unclean sperm of the United States fertilizing the egg of the Han River. The monster’s outrages and its eating of people shows the similar tyranny displayed by the United States toward the Korean Peninsula.
The NIS says it recovered CD’s and other electronic files, in code, which documented all of this. The files reportedly contained lists of members and logs of their pro-North activities. One of the files, found in a member’s car, would seem to resolve any questions about where the Il Shim Hue’s loyalties lay:
We young warriors celebrate the health of our 21st Century young Great Leader Kim Jong Il, and swear our loyalty to him! Following the example of our Great Leader’s great history, we will follow the North Korean way of socialism and juche and demolish the National Security Law. We will strive to the utmost for them!
All of this is based solely on the NIS side of the story, of course. The possessor of that particular file claims he simply downloaded it off the Internet. The suspects all denied everything before invoking their rights to remain silent. All deny having ever heard of Il Shim Hue. Their lawyers admit that their clients had traveled to China, but deny that they had met Agent Kim or Agent Yu from North Korea’s Foreign Intelligence Service at a safehouse in China, where they allegedly received their training.
Although the report claims that the suspects all denied everything and lawyered up, the lawyers say their clients were forced to incriminate themselves. In fact, the Korean police do use highly coercive methods, but those tend not to work as well against people who obviously had their stories and their legal rights worked out in advance. And trust me on this, as one who has represented hundreds of criminal suspects: multiple accused never all tell the same story and lawyer up unless they have a very well-rehearsed game plan. It’s an exceptionally rare and wise client who lawyers up, and since Korean cops don’t give rights warnings, that’s even more true in Korea.
The real question that this raises: if North Korea can infiltrate the South, why aren’t we infiltrating the North?
23 Responses
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Why am I not surprised? The fact that the Camp Humphreys protests and the camp handover environmental issue along with a host of other anti-USFK issues was helped by North Korean agents has got to be one of the worst kept secrets in Korea. The real scandal is why didn’t anybody in the SK government do anything about it?
The fact the Korea Teachers Union has the biggest war chest of any union in Korea speaks volumes….
GI Korea, you are dangerously close to saying that South and North Korea have been in cahoots all along, and I can assure you, there isn’t a goddamn soul in Corea who is willing to believe that.
The real reason of protesting the move to Pyongtaek had to do more with OHA than anything else, but that’s a long and complicated story.
The objective of everything here…from protesting USFK movements to logjamming our base closures to the nuke test…is to prevent USFK from leaving Corea. They want our money and protection from Japan.
Corea…one [machi]nation, under god money, with Fine Killing Liberty and injustice for all.
Mark, you’re being sarcastic, right?
Joshua, my comments always sound sarcastic because they’re so true.
Did you like my pun, “goddamn soul in Corea?”
Heh. Well, needless to say, I don’t really think this is all about OHA.
Like you, I’ve had bad experiences there and often feel that Uncle Sam and its finest are being shaken down, but I recognize — more clearly this week than any other — the source of many of our problems there, and the need for someone to articulate just how evil the source of this hatred really is. I think Korea is worth saving, but I also think that we can’t save Korea unless Korea does a lot more to save itself. The imminent danger is both military and political, but much more of the latter than the former.
This is really really bad news. To understand how bad it is you just need to look at the “reepul” comments to it. One Korean conservative writes, “Noh government is instigating a witch hunt when we are in this dire situation. It is time for the army to rise up.” Even conservative kids don’t believe the NIS, regardless of facts. Imagine one of the evidence is from the CIA—then NOONE in Korea will believe this story. Just let it go I say. Just let Roh get voted out of office first. It’s not too late to finish the Uri off after he is far away from the Blue House, far far far away from doing any harm. Then you finish off the job.
If they aren’t careful and this thing backfires, then only a Kim Jae Gyuish solution will save Korea. Then, even I will be supporting a Chun Doo Hwan take over part deux.
Mark,
What are you talking about? Is your Korean wife one of the myriad of realtors running around Anjung-ri?
I’m quite sure OHA has nothing to do with the protests… Are you saying that the Seoul landlords are pissed, because I’m quite sure they will get quite a bit more for the real estate. Or is it the Anjung-ri speculators? Those guys are screwing us worse than the guys in Seoul… $1500 a month for a 1400 sq ft poorly constructed appartment in a crappy little bar town. I barely paid more when I was assigned in Hawaii. HAWAII!!!! When I was here in the mid-90s, I paid $400 a month. What the hell happened? How did housing costs jump 300% in less than a decade?
If OHA drove the sentiment of the people, they’d be having pro-American demonstrations down here…
I still say it’s the OHA, Joshua. One would have to use some medieval confession extraction techniqes on the USFK gyopo spies to get them to confess, though.
It’s funny to watch them making career decisions and physical moves based on whichever units have the most chance of staying in Area II the longest.
Well, I don’t think OHA has anything to do with it, but I don’t see the need to bring anyone’s wife, Korean or otherwise, into the discussion.
You’re right. I didn’t mean it to be offensive, but after reading it again, I can see how it could be.
I’m sorry Mark.
Red
No offense taken. She’s an anti-realtor, anyways. 😉
Great! Thanks for accepting my apology. I will try to re-read my posts before posting in the future.