After the South Korean government-funded Yonhap News Agency uploaded a video news clip titled “Similarities and differences between the two Koreas’ petition system” this week, new questions are arising about Yonhap’s credibility.
“I am sure you are aware of the Blue House petition program that was established by the Moon Jae-in government to expand its direct communication with people, and there is a similar system in North Korea,” the video began. The Yonhap reporter said North Korea amended the petition-related law in 1998 to reflect people’s voices and that its purpose is to help people whose rights and interests are infringed by government institutions or public officials.
Then the reporter explained the differences between the two countries’ systems. “In South Korea, if 200,000 people sign a petition within 30 days of it being filed, the Blue House or an appropriate administrative branch provides a statement regarding the issue, but in North Korea, every petition needs to be answered mandatorily,” he said.
According to the reporter, officials in North Korea will be punished if they do not properly deal with the petition regardless of the significance of the issue, and petitioners’ privacy is protected as they do not have to provide information such as their name, occupation, and address.
“They can file a petition whenever and wherever, they can do so in writing or orally, and the topic can be just anything,” he said. He concluded his reporting by saying that the petition system is becoming more important as Kim Jong-un declared an end to bureaucracy and corruption.
Yonhap News Agency uploaded a separate article explaining North Korea’s petition system by citing a report written by a professor at Pyongyang’s Kim Il-sung University. The title of the report written by the professor is the “Democratic Republic of Korea’s petition system is the most people-friendly petition system.”
“That kind of petition system does exist in North Korea, but people just cannot file their complaints as they do in South Korea, “said Lee Hyun-seung, regional director of the One Korea Network (OKN), who defected from North Korea.
Lee said there are cases where people have connections with senior officials and strong backgrounds file a petition asking government institutions to do something such as releasing someone from imprisonment or detention.
However, Lee said it is very rare for them to actually file a petition explaining their complaints. “Does he think privacy exists in North Korea?” Lee said. “They can find out who filed a petition if they want to in North Korea. I wish whoever made this video would go to North Korea, file such a petition, and see what happens.”
There were many comments on the video criticizing it. “This is crazy and ridiculous,” one comment read. “Are you really comparing the petition system of a communist dictatorship and that of our democratic country?” Another person said, “Oh, I guess the Moon Jae-in government adopted the petition system from Kim Jong-un.”
One comment read, “Are you really trying to say that the North Korean petition system is more democratic? You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Yonhap uploaded various videos related to North Korea in a series. One video is titled, “The reason why there is no trash in the streets of North Korea.”
A reporter in this video starts by saying that the earth is in pain due to the large amount of garbage in our environment, and argues that “but if you go to big cities and small cities in North Korea, you will not be able to see any garbage on the street.”
He says that this is because the North Korean people have to return their reusable garbage, such as waste rubber, scrap metal, wastepaper, and plastic to the government. “Upcycling is becoming a global trend, but it has been the case in North Korea since long ago,” the reporter said. “They are removing garbage and do something good for the environment. It really is like killing two birds with one stone.”
“The reason they are collecting these recyclable materials is due to their lack of production, not for environmental purposes,” said OKN’s Lee. “People are stressed out due to this mandatory regulation because they don’t have anything at their home to give some (of it) to the government. This is why some people even take steel from railways, which is very dangerous, as well as books whenever they see them.”
Most of the comments on this video were also criticizing it for its pro-North Korean views. “Hey reporter, do you think North Koreans want to get executed for throwing away trash?” one comment read. “North Korea is a country that shot a South Korean citizen touring Mt. Kumgang for crossing a line.”
A North Korean soldier opened fire on a 53-year-old tourist after she crossed into a military area in 2008. The South Korean government stopped allowing people to travel to Mt. Kumgang since then. Recently, South Korean Unification Minister Lee In-young said “there are just so many South Koreans who wish to visit Mt. Kumgang and I will work on resuming the tourism program once the Covid-19 issue eases.”
Some of the other videos from Yonhap’s North Korean video series were titled “Three secrets about [Kim Jong-un’s wife] Ri Sol-ju’s fashion,” “Kim Jong-un’s hairstyle that is becoming so popular,” and “Must-eat food in Pyongyang.”
