Fifth Column Update: Pyongyang Orders a Hot Summer for Seoul
I certainly don’t believe for an instant that North Korea’s infiltration of the South was suspended during the DJ or Roh administrations; rather, I think stories about that infiltration were less likely to be leaked or reported under the former left-wing administrations unless they were just too newsworthy to suppress. But if North Korea’s agents had ever gone to ground, they’ve come back up to prepare for the summer riot season:
The North Korean regime recently ordered officials and organizations dealing with South Korea to stir up conflict in the South over the June 15, 2000 Joint Declaration and the October 4, 2007 Summit Declaration, a well-connected diplomatic source in Beijing said Sunday.
According to the source, a senior member of the North Korean Workers’ Party who recently escaped the North told him that he was told by the regime to give support to revolutionary groups in the South that support the joint declarations, so that improving inter-Korean relations becomes a common goal of the people in South Korea.
The defector also told the source the regime urged him to help bring about government change in the South in 2012, the 100th birthday of Kim Il-sung and the year of presidential and general elections in South Korea. [Chosun Ilbo]
The report — assuming it’s true, of course — notes that “previously obscure” North Korean puppet organizations have been ordered to become more active. This would suggest that other organizations under North Korean influence have been less effective; indeed, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions is suffering from scandal, in-fighting, the loss of government funding, and flagging support from the workers for its often violent protests. The far-left Democratic Labor Party split after it was publicly exposed as being a North Korean tool.
Three North Korea “defectors” even managed to infiltrate the South Korean Embassy in Beijing late last year:
Three North Korean defectors ran away from the South Korean Embassy in China and stole information on other defectors in December last year, the Foreign Ministry here said yesterday. A high-ranking ministry official confirmed South Korean media reports late Tuesday that the defectors escaped from the embassy in December last year and stole data on other defectors.
The official noted that three defectors escaped, not two as reported, and that they had stolen a portable hard drive, rather than a USB memory stick as press reports claimed. The hard disk contained unspecified information on North Korean defectors, and the ministry official said it was returned “after about 20 days. [OFK: no doubt after copying the data.] When asked if data had been leaked, the official said, “We have enough evidence to believe no information from the disk was leaked. The official added he is not aware of the defectors’ whereabouts.
Media reports claimed that the defectors had threatened to hand the hard disk over to North Korea if the embassy did not pay them. But the ministry official declined yesterday to discuss those reports, citing the sensitivity of the matter. [Joongang Ilbo]
By now, the relatives of those refugees are in one of these places. You’d think that after a decade of bitter controversy about sheltering defectors in embassies and consulates, South Korea would be better prepared to house them. Giving refuge to refugees doesn’t mean giving people you haven’t vetted the run of the embassy.