According to a Rodong Shinmun report, South Korean pastor Han Sang Ryeol has held a press conference in the People’s Palace of Culture urging South Korea to “throw away the hostility policy towards the Republic (North Korea) which depends on foreign power.”
Pastor Han also claimed, “If we judge by the spirit of the North-South Joint Declaration, my move is such a humble and natural one, but our North Korean brethren welcomed it enthusiastically. The South Chosun authorities, make a decision to get back with the spirit of the North-South Joint Declaration by throwing away the hostility policy towards the Republic!”
The report emphasized, “He will go to the South wearing a Korean traditional coat which used to be Pastor Mun Ik Hwan’s, and bearing the Korean Peninsula flag. He will go forward to the South shouting ‘Hurrah for the reunification of the Korean people!’ while praying for reunification with every step.”
In the press conference, Pastor Han publicly asked President Lee Myung Bak questions: about his intention when he said he sympathized with the Sunshine Policy as a candidate for the presidential election; whether or not postponing the time for transition of wartime operational control is proper for an independent country; whether or not the ROK-US joint military exercises are defensive in nature; whether he is going to arrest all those who meet North Korean people for violation of the National Security Law; whether he wants reunification by absorbing the North; and whether or not he will resume humanitarian aid to North Korea and tours to Mt. Geumgang.
According to a Northern Committee for the Practice of the June 15 Joint Declaration spokesperson, speaking in the same piece, “The South Chosun authorities have issued an arrest warrant in order to arrest and then execute him under the notorious National Security Law. It is an obvious move by anti-reunification factions who oppose the harmony and reunification of the nation.”
