The Honorable Christopher H. Smith
Co-Chair, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
5100 O’Neill House Office Building
200 C Street SW
Washington, D.C. 20515
United States of America
W/copies to: Chairman Bob Menendez, U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Chairman Gregory Meeks, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations
His Excellency, U.S. Ambassador to Korea
His Excellency Simon Smith, British Ambassador to Korea
Her Excellency Maria Castillo-Fernandez, E.U. Ambassador to Korea
The Honorable Antonio Guterres, U.N. Secretary-General
The Honorable Tomás Ojea Quintana, Special Rapporteur, U.N. Human Rights Council
Dear Congressman Smith:
Please accept cordial greetings from the Republic of Korea.
My name is KIM Moon-soo, and I have served as a member of the Korean National Assembly (1996-2006) and as Governor of Gyeonggi Province (2006-2014).
I also had the privilege of introducing the North Korean Human Rights Act to the Korean National Assembly on August 11, 2005, which was eventually passed on March 3, 2016, after a prolonged 11-year struggle.
I strongly oppose the amendment that has been made to the Korean Law on the Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act (Anti-Leaflet Law) as pushed through and enacted by President Moon Jae-in and the Korean Democratic Party in December 2020.
I believe this law violates the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, contravenes the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as signed by both South Korea and North Korea, and defies the U.N. Resolution on North Korean Human Rights.
Furthermore, I strongly disagree with the letter issued by the current Governor of Gyeonggi Province, LEE Jae-myeong, who asserts that the Anti-Leaflet Law is necessary for Gyeonggi Province as it serves to protect the lives and properties of residents living near the Korean Demilitarized Zone while offering a peaceful means of avoiding military confrontations with the North.
Governor Lee’s pronouncement that such leaflets present a military risk and can lead to war is a falsehood and exaggeration without basis in either truth or reality.
More than two-thirds of the U.S. Forces operating in Korea are stationed in Gyeonggi Province, where they have been present for over 70 years. The commander of the U.S. Forces in Korea can more accurately attest to the military situation on the Korean Peninsula.
The assertion that all residents of Gyeonggi Province welcome the Anti-Leaflet Law is an outright exaggeration and a lie.
Additionally, the claim that South Koreans regard the concerns of the U.S. Congress with the Anti-Leaflet Law in South Korea as foreign interference is far from the truth.
The majority of South Koreans, including myself, support the U.S. Forces stationed in South Korea and are grateful that U.S. Congress passed the 2004 North Korean Human Rights Act.
The Anti-Leaflet Law was undertaken under direct orders by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Kim Jong-un despises these leaflets, but they are a publication of freedom and human rights which represent the only source of news and hope for the North Korean people.
We would like to thank you again, Mr. Chairman, and your colleagues in the U.S. Congress for your decades-long efforts to improve the deplorable human rights conditions in North Korea.
If additional information is required, please contact Mr. Sin-U Nam, our contact point in the U.S. and a North Korean Human Rights activist in Monroe Township, New Jersey. Mr. Nam can be reached by email (sun@namnkp.com), telephone (908 705-0851), and post (International Coalition for Human Rights in N. Korea, 188A Rossmoor Dr., Monroe Township, NJ 08831).
Sincerely yours,
KIM Moon-soo
Former Governor of Gyeonggi Province
Republic of Korea
