It was revealed Wednesday that four people who allegedly carried out orders from North Korea to lead a civic movement against the government’s plan to procure U.S. built stealth fighter jets were involved in South Korean leftist politics for years. They even participated in President Moon Jae-in’s election campaign in 2017, and some of them used their own media outlets to promote their activities.
Cheongju District Court on Monday issued detention warrants for the North Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency to hold one man and two women on charges of National Security Law violations. At their warrant hearing, Judge Shin Wu-jeong said they are flight risks. Judge Shin, however, rejected a police request to detain a fourth suspect surnamed Sohn, who runs an online media outlet in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, due to insufficient legal grounds.
The four are suspects in a joint investigation by the police and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) which began earlier this year. The NIS said that some of the four suspects contacted three North Korean agents operating in China and received orders as well as money in order to proceed with their plans.
The suspects received orders from the North to stage protests against the South Korean military’s plan to procure F-35A fighter jets. From 2019 to 2020, they led a civic group in Cheongju that opposed the procurement project. They also organized a series of demonstrations and press conferences protesting the plan.
The fighter jets are a key component of South Korea’s “Kill Chain” plan, a pre-emptive strike system against North Korea’s nuclear and missile facilities. Pyongyang has strongly opposed the South’s plan to establish Kill Chain capability.
The suspects ran various other projects, including organizing a potential visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to South Korea and sending 1 million tree saplings to North Korea. The NIS believes that these activities were conducted at North Korea’s order. The spy agency confirmed that the suspects have contacted North Korean agents for many years and is investigating whether they were involved in any other activities.
All four suspects participated in President Moon Jae-in’s election campaign in 2017. According to local media at Chungcheong, the four suspects held a press conference at the Chungcheong Provincial Government Building with senior members of labor unions. They said “we support candidate Moon Jae-in, who can realize the dreams of getting rid of deep-rooted corruption and building a new Republic of Korea.”
Two of the four suspects also ran in local elections. Sohn, who is the only suspect who is not detained, ran in the 2016 general election as an independent candidate. He published an article that said he met with a senior lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party (DP) in October 2020. The article said “we were told by him that he will review our three proposals to work toward reunification thoroughly.”
Sohn told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper that he denies all the charges raised by the NIS. “Two of the suspects are a married couple, and they did not know whether the people they met in China were Chinese or North Koreans, but the investigating agency is trying to make it look like they were given orders by North Korean agents,” he said. “This government institution has been manipulating spy-related cases for over 20 years.”
He added that “furthermore, what is more serious is that the Moon Jae-in administration, which calls itself the people’s sovereign government, is manipulating the case at the government level.”
Yoon Seok-youl, the former prosecutor general under the Moon administration who joined the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) to run for the presidential election, called for a thorough investigation of the suspects over the spying allegations. “Under this government, which prioritized inter-Korean relations, this many suspects being detained appears to mean that the charges and evidence are clear,” he said. “It is a very serious case that revealed systematic spy activities still exist in South Korea.”
Yoon also criticized the Moon administration’s neglect of the national defense budget. “The Moon Jae-in administration lowered the defense budget by 560 billion won [$489.5 million], and they also cut the budget allocated for acquiring F-35As, to come up with the money to give people stimulus checks,” he said. “National defense is the last resort to protect people’s life and property, so there should be no gap in this, which is why we need to reveal the truth about this spy case.”
South Korean leftists are continuing to propose pro-North Korean policies that are out of step with current inter-Korean relations.
Song Young-gil, leader of the DP, attended the U.S. Aspen Security Forum virtually on Tuesday, and argued in favor of opening a “McDonald’s branch at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea.” Song added that the Kaesong Industrial Complex should be reopened, and if it is followed by the U.S. investment, North Korea would no longer consider the joint military exercise between Seoul and Washington to be hostile.
He argued that the best way to resolve the North Korean issue is to make it the next Vietnam. “Vietnam is taking a role in checking the Chinese expansion strategy in Southeast Asia after normalizing relations with the United States,” he said. “I think this is an option that the United States can consider taking.”
The PPP released a statement that pointed out that North Korea did not apologize for demolishing the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong and the existing international community’s sanctions on North Korea. The PPP also reminded people of the comment the Democratic Party’s Song Young-gil made after North Korea demolished the liaison office, where he said that “at least they did not shell the building.” The PPP also criticized the comparison to Vietnam, which unified under communism, while Korea remains divided.
The Ministry of Unification also announced on Wednesday that the government will provide 10 billion won ($8.74 million) to domestic private organizations to proceed with humanitarian projects to help North Korean people. “Humanitarian cooperation should be continued regardless of the political and military situation,” the ministry said.
When asked about the South Korean government’s decision to allow exports of certain items to North Korea, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State told the Voice of America that “in the meantime, in the absence of any type of engagements, United Nations sanctions on the DPRK remain in place and we will continue to enforce them along with the international community.”
