NK Points Finger at SK Human Rights Activists

North Korea’s online propaganda mouthpiece, Uriminzokkiri,
run by the North Korean Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the
Fatherland, labeled prominent figures in South Korea as traitors in one of its
recent posts. The list included former Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Kim Moon
Soo; ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker, Ha Tae Keung; and Senior Researcher at Network for
North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, Kim Young Hwan.

The report stated, “They are criminals and traitors, who not
only lack values and will, but also conscience, morality, and loyalty.” It went
on to say, “It’s not even funny that they bring up the issue of human rights,
the human rights act, and so on, when they are human scum, who have taken on
main leads in a schemeful clown show.”

 Earlier in the month, the website had singled out certain
people in the South in an article titled, “Revealing Ugly Identities of Human
Trash,” including Saenuri Party lawmaker Cho Myung Chul, who defected from
North Korea, as well as other defector activists.

In full anticipation of North Korea’s human rights track
record taking center stage at the UN General Assembly [which opened last
Tuesday], Uriminzokkiri had strongly denounced voices  from the South Korean government and the ruling Saenuri
Party that argued creating a legislation pertaining to the issue as paramount.

“Recently, South Korea’s Saenuri Party and its right-wing
cliques, the puppet unification ministry, and confrontational madmen from the
foreign ministry have been kicking up an anti-North Korean conspiracy, talking
about human rights, and this and that,” the website asserted.

It added, “These people are spitting things out such as
‘tears from around the world are coming together for human rights in the
North,’ ‘this is the best chance’ and have said ‘we must not miss this
opportunity’ and swiftly pass the North Korean human rights bill.”

In the midst of these comments, the website also offered a
message of concern, saying, “It is a pitiful sight, how the U.S. and its puppets
are using such people out of desperation to further their ploy against our
country.” It added, “This will only bring about condemnation and ridicule from
the rest of the world.”

Pyongyang’s recent accusations against certain individuals
in the South is seen as a move to launch an aggressive counter-attack against
human rights campaigns and an attempt to intimidate activists involved.