The Kimchee GI pointed out that the Uri Party has decided to abolish the National Security Law, and in its place partially revise the criminal code. Needless to say, the Chosun Ilbo isn’t happy about this, and they’ve come up with the cute little illustration above to demonstrate how the revised criminal code would be insufficient to deal with North Korean espionage activity. To explain:
– Pushing the Juche ideology in S. Korea on orders from Pyongyang would not be a crime as long he or she wasn’t preparing for a riot or revolution.
– Turning over military secrets to North Korea would no longer be punishable as espionage. The revisions to the criminal code would designate as espionage turning over military secrets to a foreign country or foreign group. The problem is, North Korea is not, legally speaking, a foreign country according to the ROK constitution, and a former prosecutor said, “According to the law, there would be no way to punish people even if they turned over military secrets to North Korea.”
– Meeting with a North Korean agent in a yogwan (inn) would be fine, as long as you weren’t discussing acts of violence. Even if core members of the student group Hanchongnyeon met with North Korean agents, it would be impossible to punish them as long as they didn’t discuss preparations for violent activity.
– Driving a North Korean agent to the U.S. Yongsan Garrison to spy on the Evil Yanks ™ would be fine, as it would be impossible to punish those who accompany North Korean agents under the revised criminal code.
I’m not a lawyer, and frankly, it’s a little late in the evening for me to track down views from the other side, but I thought the drawing was cute, so there you go.
8 Comments
Whatelse is new? All those and more, have been going on way before even the NSA got declawed. Well, it’s pretty much given that Koreans go from one extreme(dictatorship), to another where national security and the rule of law is scrapped in the name of advancing democracy. My goodness, can’t we have a middle ground?
What did the high ranking North Korean defector Hwang Jang Yop say in 1996? He said South Korea had more than 50,000 North Korean spies and agitators operating in the country. That was even before the Kim Jong Il sympathizers came into power South Korea in 1998. I wonder what the numbers are now.
When North Korea collapses, I predict that the secret (who’s who of South Korean government and civilian moles working for North Korea) will be discovered at the ruins of North Korean secret police center, that will shock everybody.
Having worked at the Chosun for four years and frankly still having higher expectations for it than any other Korean news outlet I’ve worked for, lemmie say this is typical of the Chosun’s occasional lying disinformation and as such is a real tragedy for Korean conservatism because it hurts the cause over the long run to talk such nonsense. Might seem good strategy now, but 10 years from now when Korean democracy is going even stronger the Chosun will still be the paper that came along kicking and screaming.
Article 98 of the criminal code is going to be revised to make it better at fighting espionage. Note that the espionage doesn’t have to be “with violent intent” etc etc, just espionage. How you can’t punish someone for collaborating with NK operatives (or taking money from them - note in lower left hand corner, in the yeogwan, there’s a bundle of cash on the floor) makes no sense. Gathering intel on US facilities in SK at NK’s orders is spying any way you look at it.
wow Kimbob… that part about Hwang Jang Yop is interesting. Did he ever write a book or some sort of full debriefing on the state of NK policy, secret activities towards SK, etc? Is there a URL for something like that?
Im very interested to hear in full what he says (ive only heard bits and pieces). However, I have heard HJY called the “Ahmed Chalabi of North Korea,” ie an exaggerating guy with a hidden agenda. Any thoughts on that?
Marmot, did you translate this?
http://english.chosun.com/w21d.....90025.html
“We don’t want a sudden North Korea collapse”. So you help them with generous aid and bribes when they have done nothing to reciprocate. There’s the fundalmental problem right there.
Orancay, which is worse, Chosun publishing some caricatures, OR.. North Korean sympathizing, Anti American, Anti free market spies, agitators, subversives, who are in the government, the education, the civic organizations, and the media?
God, I sound like a paranoid anti-communist in the 1950’s US Macarthy era.
“We will turn Seoul into a sea of fire”. Didn’t we hear that before? This time it’s not from the North Koreans. As if Korea hasn’t enough to worry about, it also has to worry about Muslim terrorists who have issued another (3rd in the last two weeks) warning to South Korea, threatning to turn Seoul into a sea of fire.
Of course this isn’t surprising and this was probably what the S.Korean government worried about when they decided to dispatch troops to Iraq. If Seoul does get hit, it would be a calculated sacrifice of Korean citizens’ lives to save the alliance with the US.
http://news.kbs.co.kr/news.php.....amp;kind=c
“I sound like a paranoid anti-communist in the McCarthy 50s.”
Nooo!!! Are you of that vintage??? What’s the McCarthy 50s anyway??
Off topic, but can anyone translate this from Korean into English for me? Someone already gave me a rough translation, but I would like some cooberation and perhaps a more precise translation.
??? ?????, ??????? ?????????? ???
?????????=??????????
????? : 2004.10.20 14:23 17′
?橫3, 4?? ??????? ??????? ? ??? ?????????? 10??50????? ?????, ????, ????????? ???( ???????? ???? (????????? ???????????) ?????? ?????, ??? ?????? ????????? ?????? ????? ?????? ???????????, ?????? ?????????? ?? ??????? ???????????!????? ?????? 10??? ??????.??
??? ?????? ????? 11?? ???? ???? ????? ????????????? ????? ???????? ?????? ???? ??????? ???????? ?? ???????? ???? ????????? ????? ????? ???????? ??????, ????? ?????? ?????????????? ??????? ???????? ??졩???????? ??????? ????????? ???? ?????? 20?? ??????????.
????????? ??? ?????? ?? ????????????? ???????? ????????? ?? ???????? ????????? ?????????? ????????, 35?? ??????? ????? ? 7???? ???????????? ??????? ???????? ???? ? ???????????? ???????? ???????? ?????? ?? ?????????? ??????????.
???????? ????? ????? ? ???????? ?橫?? ??????? ???? ???????? ????? ???????? ???? ??????????????? ???????? ????? ???????????? ?????????? ???????????????? ????????(????) ??????? ?????? ????????(???????) ????????? ????? ??????? ?????????? ???????? ????????a??.
??? ????? ????????? ???? ??????? ????? ???? ???????? ??橫??????? ?????????? ??????????????? ?????, ???????????? 30??? ???? ?????? ???쩫????????? ??????? ???? ??????? ??????????.
??????? ?? ???????? ???????? ????? ????? ?橫???????? ??? ??? ????( ?????? ????? ????? ???? ????????袴 30?? ???????? ?? ????? ?????????? ??????? ?????? ?졯????? ??????? ?????????.
????????? ????? ??????? ?멫?????? ???????? ???????? ????? ???????? ????? ??????????.
Asia by Blog
Asia by Blog is a twice weekly feature, posted on Monday and Thursday, providing links to Asian blogs and their views on the news in this fascinating region. Please send me an email if you would like to be notified of new editions. Previous editions ca…