"Ban on North Korea Leaflets, Protecting North Korean Dictatorship" Constitutional Petition

by Kim Dongpyo

Published 29 Dec.2020 10:59(KST)

27 North Korean Human Rights Organizations Raise Issue

On the night of June 22, a balloon sent by a North Korean defector organization for leaflet distribution fell on June 23 in a hill near Magok-ri, Seomyeon, Hongcheon-gun, Gyeonggi Province, and the police are collecting it.
The discovered balloon for leaflet distribution was 2 to 3 meters in size, with a photo of North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un and his family attached.

As international criticism continues over the Act on the Prohibition of Leaflet Distribution to North Korea (Partial Amendment to the Act on the Development of Inter-Korean Relations), North Korean human rights organizations filed a constitutional complaint on the 29th.

Twenty-seven North Korean human rights organizations held a press conference in front of the Constitutional Court that morning, stating, "The Act on the Prohibition of Leaflet Distribution to North Korea sacrifices the human rights of North Korean residents thirsty for external information under the pretext of protecting the safety of residents in border areas and protects the North Korean dictatorship," and announced that they had filed a constitutional complaint and a provisional injunction to suspend the law's effect with the Constitutional Court.

The petitioners include Lee Min-bok, representative of the Direct Assistance Movement for North Korean Compatriots, Park Jung-oh, representative of Keunsaem, the nonprofit organization Mulmangcho, the Transitional Justice Working Group, the North Korean Democratization Network, and 27 North Korean human rights organizations and their representatives.

In their petition, the North Korean human rights organizations stated that the Act on the Prohibition of Leaflet Distribution to North Korea violates and infringes upon freedom of expression, the right to pursue happiness, the principle of legality, the prohibition of broad delegated legislation, popular sovereignty, and the legitimacy and identity of the Republic of Korea, explaining the grounds for filing the constitutional complaint.

They explained, "Completely blocking the act of distributing leaflets to North Korea is excessive control and violates the principle of proportionality regarding the restriction of the petitioners' freedom of expression."

They also pointed out procedural issues, noting that the bill did not go through the agenda adjustment committee during the National Assembly plenary session.

The organizations argued, "The Ministry of Unification's plan to issue interpretive guidelines excluding leaflet distribution activities in third countries from the scope of application admits that the legislation was rushed," and insisted, "The law should be revised again, abandoning extralegal ideas."

Meanwhile, since the Act on the Prohibition of Leaflet Distribution to North Korea passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 14th, voices of concern have continued in the international community.

Eliot Engel, Chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, expressed a negative view of the Act on the Prohibition of Leaflet Distribution to North Korea in an interview with Voice of America (VOA) on the 23rd (local time), saying, "While I recognize the importance of inter-Korean diplomacy and trust-building efforts, I do not believe this should come at the expense of the shared goal of promoting North Korean human rights."

In Europe, voices calling for reconsideration of the Act on the Prohibition of Leaflet Distribution to North Korea have emerged, mainly from political circles and human rights organizations. In the United Kingdom, Ben Rogers, Vice Chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, and others delivered a joint letter urging their Foreign Office to reconsider the enactment of the bill.

The Belgian international human rights organization "Human Rights Without Borders" plans to send a letter to the European Union (EU) leadership requesting them to protest to the South Korean government, and the German human rights organization "Mensch" is also scheduled to discuss the Act on the Prohibition of Leaflet Distribution to North Korea with the German Foreign Office.