As progressive elements in South Korean civil society protest at the involvement of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) in last December’s presidential election, North Korea is trying to encourage and incite the demonstrators.
Uriminzokkiri, the website run by the North Korean Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, published pictures of candlelight vigils on the 13th in an article titled, “The Flame That Won’t Die.”
The story declared, “The candle is raging like a volcano, one they don’t know how to extinguish in either the summer rain or the sweltering heat.”
“The candle spreads and passes from this hand to that hand, endlessly and without regard for age or affiliation,” it went on. “In those candles there is the aim and the will to burn the stronghold of their plots and schemes, and to attain democracy without fail.”
Continuing, “One righteous candle becomes a hundred, and a hundred become a thousand; they will not be able to extinguish the flame of rage. The true identity of the plotters and schemers has become clear, and until their crimes are prosecuted before the whole world the candles held aloft by the people of South Chosun will burn more furiously.”
An umbrella group of left wing civil society organizations has been organizing candlelight protests against the actions of the NIS in last year’s poll. They are planning a massive vigil for the 14th, when the National Assembly inspection of the NIS will begin, and hopes to have 100,000 people participating.
