CLARIFICATION [from Hamel, not the Marmot]: the story as I wrote it was as related to me on the phone at 18:00 this evening (Korean time) by a foreign journalist in Korea who had been rung by Dr Vollertsen himself and told the story. While I cannot vouch for the accuracy of all the details, it was as near to a first-hand account as I could get at the time, and there no media reports yet, so I rang with it as a scoop. I apologise if any details were incorrect, and please retroactively read “sources say” into the beginning of pretty much every sentence I wrote.
UPDATE [via the Marmot, not Hamel]: YTN reports the Good Doctor V was issued a letter urging him to respect the laws of the Republic of Korea upon arrival in Busan. He was then granted entry into the country. The Justice Ministry explained that some of Norbert’s past actions were grounds to bar him entry into Korea, but taking into account his activity as an international human rights activisit, they let him in. The ministry said, however, it was considering plans to take legal measures should Dr. V fail to respect the laws of the land.
Ahead of this, the Justice Ministry requested that Norbert write a written promise to abide by the laws, but he apparently refused, reported YTN.
ORIGINAL POST:
What do you do to a man who is a nuisance to both the North Korean and South Koren governments? Well, the South Korean government today chose a tried and tested (and much failed) method - trying to make a dissident sign a statement that he/she will be quiet.
That’s what happened to Dr. Norbert Vollertsen, the tireless campaigner for North Korean human rights and once an volunteer emergency doctor in that benighted place. Today, Dr V. was on his way back from Japan, presumably by ferry, when he was stopped at Busan/Pusan Immigration Office. They told him that there was a law in Korea forbidding foreigners from participating in political activities, and told him that if he did not sign an undertaking saying that he would refrain from any political activities, they would send him right back to Japan. At last count he was still there at the Immigration Office, and the officials said they would make their decision very soon as to what to do with him. Knowing Norbert, he would be highly unlikely to sign the statement, almost certainly guaranteeing his immediate deportation.
(By the way his diary of his time in North Korea, already a bestseller in Japanese and Korean translations, is shortly to become available on Amazon. )
Here is the conundrum bit: is it really a good idea to kick the world’s best known campaigner for human rights and democracy in North Korea out of South Korea? I love and respect the man, even though I don’t always agree with everything he says and does (for instance, calling on people to march on the Blue House and send Roh Moo-hyun packing was playing with fire, in my opinion and probably lost him popularity points with Oranckay too), and I know that for him any publicity spotlights the situation in North Korea. So not signing the agreement and gettin deported to Japan where he can hold a press conference tomorrow or the next day, likening the South Korean government to the North Korean one, might actually help his cause rather than harm it.
As Tim Peters, founder of NGO “Helping Hands Korea” put it - the North Korean government may have wished that Norbert had stayed up there, rather than come down here and make all this trouble; and the South Korean government may well be thinking much the same thing!
For me, I think the Roh Administration (and there is little doubt in my mind that word came from the top for this move - those jobsworths in Pusan/Busan didn’t come up with this themselves) is making a mistake by doing this. Isn’t it adopting the tactics of past governments, who forced long-term communist prisoners to sign similar undertakings that they will obey the laws of South Korea?
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You know, I’m REALLY tired of Chung Dong-Young, the unification ministry and the current administrations closed lipped apparently accepting policies towards the north. Koreans are getting the snot kicked out of them (and sometimes in a very public way) and barely a word comes out of the Blue house.
I for one will be buying this book as soon as it comes out in English. BUT being a foreigner here in Korea.. I guess I won’t bother protesting anything political. You know, with it being illegal for us to do it and all. I’d hate to end up like the factory workers that complain and are deported.
ok, end rant.
Do you have a link to this story?
Roh, a former “human rights lawyer” my ass.
Now, I think I’ve made my feelings about Dr. V pretty clear. There have been a couple of times when he has seriously courted a deportation order for other things. That being said, it’s absolutely ridiculous that they’d deport him on the premise that “foreigners mustn’t engage in political activity.” I’d actually like to take a look at the law they are supposedly pointing to. I mean, heck, didn’t Roh invite a whole lot of big nosers/round eyes to Cheong Wa Dae because they participated in Korea’s democratization during the 1980s? Is he going to make them sign something at the airport next time they pay a visit just to be fair? Crikey, this blog could be considered “political activity” in the sense that most of its content is political. Maybe Hamel and I should expect the Ministry of Justice to pay our places of work a visit in the coming days…
Marmot reports: NK Rights Activist Hassled in SK
Marmot is reporting that the German human rights activist Norbert Vollertsen may be deported from South Korea if he continues his activism: Today, Dr V. was on his way back from Japan, presumably by ferry, when he was stopped at…
While perhaps a technical difference, he wasn’t deported, he wasn’t permitted (re-entry) into the country, and many countries do that much all the time. Anyway…
Given the things he has said and the things he has done, I have long wondered why the government let him stay around so long, either by denying him re-entry like it did in Busan or by detaining and deporting him. The only reason I can think of that it didn’t all this time is because it is scared of being accused of things. Frankly, if a communist or pro-North type had been telling people to rush the system like he did it might have meant jail time then deportation. Don’t get me wrong, I do wish it let him back in, but as these cases go his is as clear cut as they come, wrong as they may be.
I’m angry at the old dictatorship types still in the GNP and right-wing movements for using him to legitimize their own political demands. Or, if he really knew what they’re all about, then the tragedy is that he let a righteous cause be co-opted by people who in 50 years in power never shows the slightest interest in human rights and still want to have laws that denied those rights around. Sadly - and this is an issue entirely separate from his re-entry denial - his face on Korean TV came to be a symbol of the desperate movement to keep Korea in the eighties and before. Ten years from now the things his friends are fighting will all be taken for granted as a matter of course for a mature democracy, and well look back at the history books and see pictures of The Good Doctor on the wrong side.
I only got to meet him once and he is indeed as likeable as they say. I wish him the best and expect that he’ll probably keep up with the same work.
I might mention that I, too, could have been deported many times over for political activities, especially during my student days, but that didn’t happen. I’ve often wondered why. I mean, even now in Seoul I meet people from my school who I never knew but remember me as “politically active,” so if any of the authorities had ever cared I guess I could’ve been in trouble. Probably I didn’t because I was never a prominent leader, most of the time never made that much a difference doing anything, and many people close to me were doing so much more. If doing anything about me was ever contemplated (and I doubt it) then maybe someone figured students would be students and indeed, I learned a lot about Korea than I ever would’ve in a classroom.
Just to clarify - I think that the government is only being consistent by denying him entry and like I say his case is as clear cut as they come given what he’s been up to, but I still think it shouldn’t have and think it would be worth protesting the action against him, as I expect no small number of politicians to do tomorrow.
Hmm….
Says here that the govt believes there was reason to deny him entry, but let him in anyway after giving him a “recommendation” (probably in written form) that he obey the ROK’s laws.
Says the reason they let him in anyway was “out of consideration of the fact he is a human rights activist,” but that it could take action against him should fail to obey the law in the future. Finally, it says that they tried to get him to sign papers saying he would obey the law, but that he refused. In other words, they’re letting him in without signing anything.
RE Hamel’s : “At last count he was still there at the Immigration Office, and the officials said they would make their decision very soon as to what to do with him. Knowing Norbert, he would be highly unlikely to sign the statement, almost certainly guaranteeing his immediate deportation.”
If the goal isn’t to slander the govt at the slightest opprotunity, then I’m wondering if next time it wouldn’t be worth counting to ten before posting. I think the nature of this post is at best irresponsible.
Wow. I don’t get it.
For those wanting to know the law applicable in this case, my source cites the ?¶œ??…???´€????²? 17?¡° ?€??™¸????¸ ????¹??™œ??™ ?¸??§€?·œ????€™(article 17 of the Immigration Law “regulations restricting political activities by foreigners”.) You can find an English translation here: chapter 4, section 1 article 17 clause (2). I quote: “(2)An alien sojourning in the Republic of Korea shall not engage in political activities.”
To Kimbob: when I got the story at 5:30 this afternoon there was no print story yet - Dr V was still sitting in a room somewhere at Pusan harbour. Thanks to Marmot and Oranckay for both linking to a story with more details.
Since North Korean communists are still the “enemy”. Is it fair to judge Dr. V the same way? I mean one group is trying to “unify” Korea anyway possible including a war that killed millions of people. While the other is genuinely interested in human rights, and to my knowledge not trying to bring the downfall of the Republic of Korea like the communists are. How many times have union leaders or rice farmers said the same things about the current government?
Also, hey if the GNP is pushing human rights in North Korea, good for them. We all know Roh and URI proactively try to sweep it all under the carpet. Sometimes a political “shift” occurs and for the past 5 or more years the GNP has been the party pushing human rights in North Korea.
I?€™m not the Marmot but I am pretty sure this story was not done just to smear the government and Roh.
Ahh… A typical response by the Noh Moo Hyun Regime. Whereas they can rightfully claim that the NSL is an ancient relic ripe for retirement, they hypocritically silence foreign activists. Then again this is the typical Noh Regime tactic, are any of us really surprised?
Someone wrote, “I?€™m angry at the old dictatorship types still in the GNP and right-wing movements for using him to legitimize their own political demands.”
I have to agree 100%. But I want to add, that I’m also angry with Korea’s left for failing to support Vollertsen and taking violent stance against him and NK defectors resideing in SK.
I received an e-maill from Dr V this morning stating that he had been held at Pusan immigration for 10 (ten) hours. This morning a friend bumped into him at the Koreana hotel, where Dr V showed him the letter in English from the Korean government, asking him to avoid any activities that are inimical to the laws of Korea, or something to that affect.
This is the likely order of events, in my speculation:
the officers, perhaps cognizant of the kind of stir Dr V could cause if denied entry to Korea and sent back to Japan, issue him a letter urging him to respect the laws of Korea and let him in with a warning. 
Dr V enters Korea without signing the letter.
What likely happened is:
1) Norbert turns up at Busan/Pusan
2) gets taken to a room for questioning
3) is asked to sign an undertaking
4) refuses
5) is left alone to think (at which point he calls my journalist friend)
6) the officers come back in and Dr V still refuses
7) something like this goes on for 10 hours
Another Roh Regime Smear? You bet and Good Job Brothers!!! Keep up the smearing!
And Orankay. anytime you want to discuss North Korean Human Rights, I’ll be glad to do it with you in the parking lot! Come On Man! North Korea treats everything with violence or torture, so it will be Quid Pro Quo between you and I.
Regards,
Marc.
If Roh & friends are doing terrible things, then stating what those things are should make the problems obvious enough. One should not have to exaggerate or accuse it of things that (1) it cannot help, like among many other things China’s behavior or (2) things that are what any SK government would do, even prior and Kim Dae Jung, or that can be understood in the context of SK culture, history, and politics. Note that on April 13, 1994 the Chosun Ilbo accused the government of not doing anything about NK defectors, “even though they have been an issue for a considerable amount of time.” Kindly remember that Kim Young Sam became president 1993. He was preceded by Roh Tae Woo, the former general. The GNP was the ruling and majority party under both Roh Tae Woo and Kim Young Sam, though several transformations & name changes ago (the Democratic Liberal Party, then the New Korea Party). Charges coming from the GNP (or the GNP as a whole, anyway, since there are many healthy-thinking individuals among its ranks) that Roh Moo Hyun is doing the wrong thing or not doing enough about NK and defectors is politically motivated.
I’m not sure that Roh Moo Hyun can’t do more. Maybe he can, maybe he can get a little more creative, despite the big China obstacle. However, I’m not sure that he’s doing anything specificially wrong, though I’m perfectly willing to recognize as much if it turns out he is. It would be really, really nice to hear from Hamel what that might be, just for once. In the meantime, South Korea has long been my home and I would like it to be a society where the law make sense, where you can’t get executed for what you think and where people with a common paternal ancestor 20 generations ago are allowed to marry, and I’m tired of seeing the hypocritical slander and disinformation used to convince the public that common sense reforms will “ruin the country,” as Park Geun Hye alleges.
I’d like to talk to MLS in a partking lot about NK human rights if the point is NK human rights, but I’m tired of seeing improvements in civil liberties in SK derailed in their name.
Oranckay! Bring it on! Hamel knows me, so name the parking lot and we’ll do alot of discussing!