LEAFLET DROPS IN NORTH KOREA TO CONTINUE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 002178

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2018
TAGS: PROP PREL KS KN
SUBJECT: LEAFLET DROPS IN NORTH KOREA TO CONTINUE

Classified By: POL M/C Joseph Y. Yun. Reasons 1.4(b/d)


1. (C) Summary: Park Sang-hak, President of Fight for Free
North Korea, an NGO active in promoting democracy and human
rights for North Korea, said he had sent 1.8 million anti-Kim
Jong-il (KJI) leaflets by balloon into North Korea this year
and would not heed ROKG calls to stop. The DPRK has
threatened suspension of its cooperation on the Kaesong
Industrial Complex and military action if the ROK does not
halt the leaflet drops. The Ministry of Unification's Deputy
Director General of the Humanitarian Cooperation Planning
Division Kim Eui-do dismissed the idea that the ROKG was
publicly calling for a halt while privately supporting Park,
though some MOFAT officials have smiled at Park's work. End
Summary.


2. (C) Park, a North Korean defector who until his defection
in 1999 worked in the propaganda department in Pyongyang,
said on November 4 that he has been sending leaflets into
North Korea since 2004 and that so far this year he had sent
1.8 million. He sends the leaflets in batches of 100,000 by
balloon from different locations along the DMZ and the
surrounding seas, depending on the winds.


3. (C) The leaflets are thin white plastic bags, 9.75 x 7.75
inches in dimension, printed front and back with water-proof
black ink. Recently, Park said, he had begun putting $1 or 5
or 10 Chinese yuan bills inside approximately one in 200 of
the leaflets. He thinks North Korean won would be more
attractive, and is in the process of securing North Korean
currency.


4. (C) The text of the leaflets condemns KJI for the
suffering he has inflicted on the North Korean people,
compares and contrasts the ROK's and DPRK's political and
economic progress, and calls on North Koreans to rise up and
overthrow KJI. There is also a family tree depicting KJI's
wives, mistresses, and offspring, as well as information on
KJI's birth in the Soviet Union. Park said he drafted the
text of the leaflet based on discussions with fellow
defectors. Besides trying to circumvent DPRK authorities'
hold on information, Park is trying, with the personal
information about KJI, to undermine the mythological
idolization of KJI.


5. (C) Despite the fact he has been sending leaflets since
2004, Park said the DPRK has recently reacted harshly for two
reasons. First, he started putting money in the leaflets, a
move which he has heard from contacts with connections in
North Korea made the leaflets very popular. Second, he
revised the leaflets to include personal information about
KJI. More than the condemnation of North Korea and the call
for an uprising, the attack on the KJI myth infuriated DPRK
officials, he said.


6. (C) Dr. Han S. Park, Director of the Center for the Study
of Global Issues at the University of Georgia, debriefed
poloffs on November 3 on his recent trip to Pyongyang, his
fortieth odd trip in twenty years. Dr. Park said his DPRK
interlocutors asked him to pass a message to the USG that it
is important for the U.S. to persuade the ROK to stop the
balloon drops of leaflets into North Korea. He said the DPRK
military is highly agitated, making him afraid of the
consequences if the balloon drops continue. The DPRK has
publicly threatened military action and the suspension of
activities at the Kaesong Industrial Complex if the ROK does
not stop the leaflet drops.


7. (C) Park Sang-hak said that since the inauguration of the
Lee Myung-bak (LMB) administration, the Ministry of
Unification had asked him publicly and privately seventeen
times to stop launching the balloons. Park said he had no
intention of stopping and believed that privately the Blue
House was happy for him to continue.


8. (C) The Ministry of Unification's Deputy Director General
of the Humanitarian Cooperation Planning Division Kim Eui-do
dismissed the idea that the LMB administration was privately
supportive of Park's efforts. Kim said the MOU is actively
trying to dissuade Park from sending leaflets, so far to no
avail, as there are no laws or regulations preventing private
citizens from sending leaflets to North Korea.


9. (C) Park, recently placed under round-the-clock police
protection because of anonymous death threats, said the
publicity generated by the DPRK's opposition to the leaflets
had resulted in a flood of visitors to his website, many of
whom made donations. The BBC is currently filming a
documentary of his work which he expects to generate even
greater publicity and support.


10. (C) Comment: Without much notice, the leaflet drops have
become the most contentious issue in the North-South
relations, generating vocal protests from the North and the
only official inter-Korean contacts over the past several
months. South Koreans are not quite sure why these drops are
so bothersome for the North now. Their explanations range
from the technical--the inclusion of dollar bills--to
political, such as KJI's health to the worsening food
situation. So far at least, neither the South Korean
government nor the public seem perturbed. In any case, even
if it wanted to, there is not much the ROKG can do, because
there are no laws to prevent such activities. MOU may be
sincerely trying to persuade Park to stop but some of our
MOFAT interlocutors smile when they explain there is nothing
the government can do.
STEPHENS