The South Korean government announced today regarding the sending of anti-Kim Jong Il leaflets into North Korea by non-governmental organizations that it will take “measures according to the law and principles (of inter-Korean agreements).” North Korea repeatedly brought up the issue during South-North military working-level talks yesterday.
Kim Ho Nyon, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification said today at a briefing that at a ministerial level meeting held yesterday the Ministry of Unification, Ministry of Defense, National Policy Agency and other ministries together came to the conclusion that this type of action needs to be addressed, considering the many extant agreements between South and North Korea on the issue.
In the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement of 1991, the South and the North agreed not to slander or defame each other, and during the summit talks of 2004 both the South and the North agreed to halt all propaganda activities such as anti-regime broadcasting, placing defamatory placards or dropping leaflets near the DMZ from the 15th June that year.
As spokesperson Kim put it, “According to the laws and principles of the agreements, necessary measures will be taken against these organizations in the private sector, after requesting that they cooperate”. The government has twice requested the private sector to control itself, but this is the first time the term “necessary measures” has been used.
Regarding North Korean defamation of South Korea, he said, “We are continuously urging North Korea to halt defaming or slandering our name”.
The Ministry of Unification officials have stated that there is basically no channel to share South Korean perspectives except through military talks. The talks between the North and the South are halted, so South Korean requests that North Korea cease defaming South Korea have been delivered through people who visit North Korea.
Regarding military telecommunication materials and equipments that were requested by the North during the military talks, Kim said that “we will continue to negotiate”.
