Activism in South Korea is, like every other nation, is a tough business as there are myriad of causes grabbing people’s attention.  But only in South Korea can one of the dumbest “issue” ever conceived be the most popular

Committee for Democratization of North Korea President Hwang Jang Yop has criticized the “candle light demonstrations,” which have been going on for over 2 months in the center of Seoul against imports of U.S. beef, as nothing but the “dictatorship of the masses.”

Hwang Jang Yop released a statement on the 2nd to encourage “the citizens’ alliance against illegal candle light demonstrations,” saying that “There are now two kinds of dictatorship on the Korean Peninsula. The first one is North Korea’s dictatorship that destroys even third generation seeds of resistance; a state dictatorship. And, the other is the South Korean one, the dictatorship of the masses, ruled by the leftists who previously fell under the spell of North Korean propaganda.”

He pointed out that, “From my perspective, which has witnessed both systems, North Korea’s state dictatorship is similar to the South Korean masses’ candlelight one. While the national principle is the Juche Ideology, the South Korean principle is ‘against mad cow disease,’ which was stimulated by anti-Americanism. While the command group in North Korea is the National Defense Commission, South Korea’s leading group is the faction of pro-North Koreans and the followers of Kim Jong Il, the so-called ‘progressive leftist group.’”

Unfortunately, one common tactic that propels any issue to the top is to turn violent. It’s embarrassing stunts like the anti-beef protests that make me wonder if North Korean human rights can be serve better if we withdrew from South Korea.

After all, the issue is too important to rely on people hooked on the latest leftist cause.

(Via OFK) Thanks to crackdowns in China and famine in coastal areas, the ocean is becoming a popular escape route among defectors.

Ten North Koreans have defected by boat to the South this month, coming in a total of six trips, four of which were reportedly taken in stolen motor boats.

While thousands of defectors come to the South every year, they usually do so by first going to China and Southeast Asia. The boat journey is more direct but riskier. This month’s trips have reportedly prompted North Korea to strengthen its coastal borders.

More than 2,000 North Koreans came to the South in 2006 and 3,000 defections are expected this year according to the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights.

With Chinese authorities actively ridding its country of refugees before the Olympics, going out to sea in the onset of typhoon season is becoming more of an attractive option.

Unfortunately, there is no way to help seafaring refugees until they land somewhere outside of North Korea.

Good to see someone finally get a break

A SOUTH Korean prisoner of war has escaped North Korea after 55 years and is waiting in a third country to return to his homeland, an activist said today.
The 78-year-old man was in a South Korean consulate after fleeing the communist state on June 14, Choi Sung-Yong, who arranged the rescue, said.

The man was captured by North Korean troops in 1953 after suffering a gunshot wound to the knee.

“He had worked as a coal miner in North Hamgyong province. He fled alone through China, leaving his wife and children at his home,” Mr Choi said.

“He is sick and being attended by South Korean officials,” said the South Korean activist, who has arranged at least 10 previous escapes.

Mr Choi did not elaborate on the PoW’s rescue, which involved arranging border crossings. If caught in China, refugees from North Korea face repatriation and harsh punishment - possibly even a death sentence.

I wonder what drove him to live so long?