CINA

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Yesterday the "entire Korean nation" (according to the North Korean/Choseon CentralTV) celebrated the 68th birthday of Kim Jong-il (aka "The Dear Leader", "The Brilliant General", "The Sun of the 21st Century" etc. etc...)

In celebration of this "epochal event" Kim Myeong-cheol(*) wrote: "As 2012 approaches, the supreme leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong-il, has established himself as the most peerless national hero in Korea's 5,000-year history - a 'super' Kim Il-sung", in his article "Pyongyang hails 'iron-willed' Kim Jong-il" (MUST READ!!) for today's Asia Times(HK).

Although that piece reads like complete trash, I'm sure that the author means business!!

* Kim Myeong-cheol is author of a number of books and papers in Korean, Japanese and English on North Korea, including "Kim Jong-il's Strategy for Reunification". He has a PhD from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Academy of Social Sciences and is often called an "unofficial" spokesman of Kim Jong-il and North Korea, according to A. Times.

Related articles:
☞ North Korea marks Kim's birthday (al-Jazeera, 2.16)

☞ Kim Jong Il Death Watch: Birthday Edition (OFK, 2.16)

Yesterday's TOP "news" stories by KCNA:
☞ DPRK in Festive Mood

☞ Youth and Student's Dancing Parties Held 

☞ Newspapers Observe Kim Jong Il's Birthday

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Seoul's "re-development" Mafia (a collaboration of the city bureaucracy with the construction Mafia) selected the next victim to realize its f*cking gentrification program: the Filipino Market in Hyehwa-dong...

...the Sunday venue for the migrant worker community from the Philippines(*).

The bourgeois Korea Times reported last week(2.10) following:

Seoul’s 'Little Manila' Faces Closure

Jongno District Office in Seoul has told the Filipino community to stop holding a market in Hyehwa-dong, citing complaints from passers-by and residents.

The marketplace, dubbed "Little Manila," first emerged in 1997, and takes place every Sunday for Filipinos after attending a mass at the Hyehwa Catholic Church. About 1,200 to 2,000 Filipinos gather at the marketplace...

...which some consider as a fine example of Korea's racial harmony. There are about 46,000 Filipinos in Korea, forming the fifth largest ethnic group...

Father Alvin Parantar, chaplain of the Hyehwa-dong Filipino Catholic Community, who acts as a representative for the ethnic community, confirmed the district office's request, adding that it was like the district kicking them out for its own convenience without providing an alternative site for their gathering.

"The reasons they gave up us was one, they received complaints from neighbors and pedestrians in the area; two, there were concerns about cleanliness and order; three, they want to redevelop the sidewalk and include a waterfall wall in the area; and four, they want to transfer the market to a new multicultural market," the priest told The Korea Times over the phone.

"It's a Philippine way of life. We go to church, then go to the market to buy provisions and meet friends. It's an expression of Philippine culture. The national government has a policy about supporting multiculturalism in Korea, but there seems to be a contradiction with the district office's plans. The church and the market should go together and not be separated," he said.

Outside the church, there are usually 16 vendors selling Philippine products and cooked food. Many Filipinos living not just in Seoul, but also from the provinces, flock to the market to buy products from their home country

Parantar noted the problems raised by the district office can be addressed by the vendors at the market.

"The problems that they raised can be resolved by talking to the vendors. They are willing to cooperate. If they are concerned about the cleanliness and orderliness in the area, they can address the problems. If they want to redevelop the area again, they can integrate the Philippine market according to their plans," Parantar said.

The district office said they have received civil petitions from the neighborhood and they have to take some measures against the Philippine market.

"There were many complaints from the pedestrians and residents. There also is a possibility of accidents as Filipinos flock out of the church after mass into car lanes," said Lee Jong-ju of the district's construction management division.

"Some vendors occupy more than eight meters on the street and it causes an inconvenience to pedestrians."

The district also connected the move to the eviction of other street vendors in Jongno, who were "moved" to "specialized areas" away from the street.

"All street stalls have vanished from Jongno and some people think the same rule should be applied to the Philippine market," he said.

"We talked about the situation with the representatives of the Philippine community three times and gave them some alternatives," Lee said.

The district suggested moving to the grounds of Dongsung High School, but the school refused to participate. Another idea was shifting it to an area in front of the Catholic University of Korea campus, however, it has failed to respond to the suggestion.

"For the best, we want them to move into the multicultural street which is going to open in Nakwon-dong in March. However, they rebuffed the idea since it is isolated from their church and community," Lee said.

He added that the district will try not to use physical force. "The best way would be to transfer them to a designated area, but otherwise we are going to crack down on the market from March," he said.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/02/117_60641.html

* The gov't-run Korea Tourism Organisation about the market:

Related article:
☞ Filipinos Collect Signatures to Save 'Little Manila' (K. Times, 2.16)

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Well, from time to time it's quite entertaining and exciting to read stuff like the following piece, published in yesterday's Observer(UK):

Inside North Korea: the ultimate package tour

The world's most notorious socialist(*) state is a land of haywains and empty highways, unlit cities and undimmed reverence for the Great Leader

The strangest of all the very strange things about the strangest place on earth, North Korea, is that it's surprisingly easy to go there. Or at least, not as hard as it somehow ought to be. I'd always thought that it was only marginally less difficult than going to the moon or, say, Eton, but my amazing revelation is this: type "North Korea" and "tourism" into Google, and you'll find Koryo Tours, a British-run, Beijing-based travel firm. A couple of clicks and a certain amount of cash later, and you, too, could find yourself on a vintage Russian jetliner heading towards the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

It's impossibly exciting. And when Paul, the Australian sitting next to me, remarks, casually, that Air Koryo is considered unairworthy by the EU, it becomes, perhaps, just a little too exciting. But then some rousing martial music strikes up over a crackling intercom, and air stewardesses wearing what looks like jet-age vintage – white gloves, natty hats, red lipstick – bring around the in-flight reading material: the Pyongyang Times. The highlight of a recent firework spectacular, I learn, was a sky-writing display that read "Down With Imperialism", although the top story concerns a visit by Kim Jong Il to the new September 26 Breeding Pig Farm. "The country's economy is growing remarkably through a series of big events in the flame of the new revolutionary upsurge," he notes.

But then the flame of revolutionary upsurge is burning strongly among us, too. There are 21 of us, from all parts of the globe, most of us reasonably well-travelled, with the exception of Dan, a twentysomething Canadian, who has selected North Korea for his first ever trip abroad. ("No, Dan," I hear someone say, possibly myself. "In other countries, you are allowed to leave your hotel without being officially accompanied by a government guide."). And we're all as excited as puppies.

Because barely 1,500 people a year visit North Korea. Or, to put this in context, several thousand fewer than make it to the British Lawnmower Museum. Collectively, we know more about a strimmer once owned by Joe Pasquale than we do about the nation that last May announced it had carried out a second successful underground nuclear test. And as we land on an empty runway, and walk into an empty terminal, it feels like not unlike entering a fold in the space-time continuum. Not least because our mobile phones are immediately confiscated. The investment bankers in the group (we have three of them, two of whom have been recently made redundant – there's obviously something about having experienced the distintegrating edge of capitalism that makes North Korea an attractive holiday destination) look like they might cry.

And yet, for what the West calls a rogue state, and George Bush the most easterly point on the axis of evil, it doesn't seem very evil. It takes a while to clear customs, not because our belongings are searched or we're interrogated about the purpose of our visit, but because, as becomes clear when we see the luggage carousel, we're the only passengers who've failed to pack at least two flat-screen TVs. And when we finally meet our guides by the departures board (there are none until three days' time), they're smiling expansively: an older man, Mr Lee, and a pretty young woman in a fashionable coat, Miss Kim.

We trundle along empty roads towards Pyongyang, a "model" city of Soviet-style blocks and grandiose boulevards where only citizens with special permits can live or even visit. Miss Kim tells us the name means "flat land", and "the weather is neither too hot nor too cold with adequate precipitation". It's just getting dark when we reach our hotel, the 47-storey, 1,001 room, Yanggakdo, built on an island in the middle of the Taedong river. There are perhaps three or four rooms with lights on. But then this is more than in most of the apartment blocks we pass because, of all the things that North Korea is short of, it's most short of electricity. There's a famous satellite shot of the Korean peninsula at night(**), a dark puddle in a sea of light. Our hotel has electricity, but by 10pm, from the magnificent revolving restaurant, the city simply vanishes from view. Poof! Like a cheap trick in a pantomime. Now you see it, now you don't, although it's there again next morning, shimmering in the crisp winter light.

The upside of having no electricity is that because there's very little industry, there's very little pollution, and as we travel south out of Pyongyang, towards the Demilitarised Zone, almost no traffic. It's a four-lane highway, the key route south. With no cars. We stop at a roadside service station and are mesmerised by the lack of traffic: a bicycle passes. And some time after that, a unit of soldiers marches past in what was meant to be the fast lane. Because if you want to go somewhere in the DPRK, you walk. Everywhere, criss-crossing the countryside, across fields and dirt roads, people are walking. Who knows where they're going? I scrape the ice off the inside of the bus window and peer out but the North Korean hinterland is an unknown, mysterious place. We know almost as little about North Korea as the North Koreans know of us.

This state of affairs isn't helped by the fact that journalists are banned. The last two to enter the country illegally were imprisoned until Bill Clinton intervened last year and negotiated their release. I have special, rare dispensation as a travel writer because Nick Bonner, the founder of Koryo Tours, believes that the more the world engages with North Korea, the more North Korea will engage with the world. And because I've agreed in advance that I shan't write about North Korea's human rights record or in any way insult the Dear Leader. It's strongly impressed on all of us before we leave that if we misbehave, it's not us but our guides who'll bear the brunt of any "repercussions".

I've been allowed in as "a travel consultant" and in this capacity I'm happy to report that visiting North Korea is surely one of the greatest holidays on earth. You will see only what everyone else who goes to North Korea sees: which is what the North Korean government wants you to see. In this, it reminds me of Hello! magazine. I've always marvelled at how celebrities, given editorial control, choose to portray themselves. And so it is with North Korea. You may not get to see the "real" North Korea, but this "unreal" North Korea is a fascinating thing in and of itself. Because this is tourism at its most perfected. It's like a cruise ship. Every minute of every day has been pre-formulated and it's beautifully worked out: from the €5 charge if you want to try the national speciality, dog soup, to the man with a video camera who follows our every move, and at the end of the tour produces a DVD of our visit set to martial victory music, and sells it back to us for €40 a pop.

What you get a sense of, most acutely, is the country's extreme isolation and paranoia, although after a few days in the country, it doesn't seem as paranoid as all that. "After President Bush named us as the axis of evil, he attacked first Afghanistan, then Iraq. Are we next?"

The relationship with the US affects everything: it fuels juche, the ideology of self-reliance, and its strategy of songun, putting the military first, and explains everything from the lack of electricity to the "Arduous March", the famine in the late 90s when up to two million people died. It's not as bad as then, but the World Food Programme estimates a third of the population will go hungry this year without emergency aid. Our food, on the other hand, is plentiful and not bad. Even the dog soup is pretty good (half of us reckon it tastes like lamb; the other half, beef).

The highlight of the trip is a visit to Kim Il-sung's mausoleum, an encounter that must qualify as the greatest touristic experience on earth. (The "International Friendship Exhibition" in Mount Myohyang-san runs a close second. It displays the 223,579 gifts given to Kim Il-sung, including a stuffed crocodile in bow tie and waistcoat serving drinks, presented by the Sandinista National Liberation Front of Nicaragua, and a Tolpuddle Martyrs plate from the British parliamentary Labour party.)

We're in our smartest clothes. Miss Kim lines us up in rows of four and we march solemnly through a security scanner and on to a travelator that spans an endless marble corridor until we reach the inner sanctum, where we form two perfect rows, take three steps forward on Miss Kim's command, and bow to a statue of Kim Il-sung, march down more marble corridors, through a wind tunnel (to shake the dust from our clothes), and into a darkened room holding the embalmed body of Kim Il-sung himself. Here we form six rows and step forward three steps at a time, to bow solemnly, not once, but three times, from three different directions.

Even then it's not over: in another marble chamber is an audio guide to the nation's reaction when the Great Leader died. "All people were rending their hearts! And weeping scalding tears that as they hit the ground fossilised and became glittering pieces of stone! It was as if the earth itself had died!"

Outside afterwards, groups of Korean women line up to have their photographs taken in front of the palace, and we watch as more than one brushes tears from her eyes. Kim Il-sung was the father of the nation; in fact, he still is, described in the constitution as the "eternal president", and this emotion isn't faked.

The trouble with North Korea, says Hannah, one of our English guides, is that people tend to see what they want to see. The Chinese see China; the Russians, Russia; Ferenc, a Hungarian in our group, sees a little bit of Hungary – like the pupils in the June 9 Middle School we visit, he wore the red scarf of the Young Pioneers when he was a boy. "My parents couldn't believe I was coming here," he says. "They were horrified."

Dan, the Canadian, sees "Abroad". (And it scares the shit out of him. I'm not sure he'll ever leave Winnipeg again.) And Peter, the 74-year-old Australian in our group, sees a battleground. I'm standing next to him when he lifts his trouser leg to show Miss Kim his bullet wounds: "That's where you buggers tried to kill me," he says. "Although, in fairness, I was trying to kill you lot at the time." He's the first Korean War veteran from "the other side" that Miss Kim and Mr Lee have met, and it's genuinely touching what a fuss they make of him. They pay out of their own money to upgrade him on the train on the return trip so that he's more comfortable.

It's a remarkable journey: like travelling through a Constable painting. There are oxen pulling carts, farmers unloading a haywain, children playing with a wooden hoop. It's so strangely innocent: a landscape that could be from any time within the last three centuries. It's four hours before I see the first car, and some time after that, we approach the border, where a charmless customs officer systematically goes through my camera and deletes half my photos. Beyond the Yalu river we see the towers of Dandong, a small provincial Chinese city that looks like a crazy modern metropolis. How can buildings be so tall and shiny, I wonder.

But then if there's one thing that going to North Korea teaches you, it's that everything, all of life, is just perspective.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/feb/14/northkorea

Related (MUST SEE!!):
☞ [주체99] Winter in Pyongyang (slideshow)

* i.e. the so-called 'socialist'... (!!)
** the mentioned 'famous satellite shot': 

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Two days ago The Hankyoreh reported following:

NHRCK: Police crackdown during

Yongsan Tragedy was illegal

The NHRCK’s opinion also calls for the indictment of members of the police leadership, including SMPA Commissioner Kim Seok-ki

National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) submitted its opinion concerning the Yongsan Tragedy to the court, and stated in the report that the behavior of police during crackdown reached a stage of illegality on Tuesday(*). The NHRCK’s opinion is expected to have a huge impact on the Yongsan Tragedy issue because it also states that there is a need to indict members of the police leadership, including Kim Seok-ki, commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA).

The NHRCK stated in their opinion, “We believe that the police behavior at that time was illegal because police officers were in violation of a number of regulations stipulated in laws and ordinances.” The NHRCK cited specific examples as proof, such as the fact that the leader during the crackdown did not educate and inform the officers of the possible threat of a fire, and carried out the second crackdown without changing operational tactics even though the first attempted crackdown exhibited signs of a high possibility of a fire.

Additionally, the NHRCK emphasized, “If the government does not punish the illegal actions committed by public entities, it will do a great deal of damage to our Constitution.” The NHRCK added, “The trial to determine whether the police engaged in illegal behavior will set an important precedent.”

Prior to the NHRCK’s report, the individuals who were indicted by prosecutors in connection to the Yongsan Tragedy included Lee Chung-yeon, the head of a group of Yongsan residents refusing eviction. The group of indicted individuals accused 14 members of the police leadership, including Kim Seok-ki, of accidental homicide, however, prosecutors rejected their accusations. In South Korea, if prosecutors refuse to indict certain individuals while controversies remain surrounding a case, citizens may petition the court directly for an indictment.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/403987.html

*  “용산 사건, 경찰 주의의무 위반했다” (인권위원회, 2.09)

P.S.
Emmm.. It's only a matter of time - IMO - before the LMB administration commands the closure of the NHRCK!!^^

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Today is the 3rd anniversary of the horrific Yeosu Fire Disaster!

Already two days ago migrant workers (supporting) organisations, trade unions - incl. MTU, KCTU - and solidarity groups recalled the date with a protest press conference in front of Seoul's Immigration Center in Mok-dong...

Before yesterday the bourgeois Korea Times reported following:

'Foreigner Detention Centers Get Worse'
Migrant Workers Mark 3rd Year After Yeosu Fire

Three years have passed since a fire took the lives of 10 migrant workers who were being detained at an immigration center in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province. On the anniversary of the tragic accident Tuesday, migrant workers' organizations renewed their calls for the closure of detention centers for foreigners.

The Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea (JCMK) and the Alliance for Migrants' Equality and Human Rights held a press conference to demand the closure of the detention centers and the end of crackdowns and deportation.

"We asked for a new approach in dealing with unregistered migrant workers. Busting and deporting them is not a proper solution," Lee Young, executive secretary of the JCMK, said. "However, the government reinforced their crackdown efforts and some 60,000 of them have been deported since 2008 and the situation at the centers has gotten worse."

They said the condoned cases of abuse against migrant workers are carried out in the name of improving the nation's competitive power. "Migrant workers are not eligible for the minimum wage and work in poorer working conditions than Korean workers. However, the government incites hostility against migrant workers claiming they threaten the jobs of domestic workers," Lee said.

The JCMK added that immigration offices and detention centers were not built for long-term confinement and thus do not have appropriate facilities to accommodate illegal migrants for a long time.

The Seoul Immigration Office held 18,153 foreigners last year, an average of 49 per day. It has been determined by the Ministry of Justice to have the capacity to hold 45 per day.

"The ministry's standard for the accommodation of detained foreigners is about four square meters per person, which is even smaller than the 6.6 square meters of other correctional facilities," Lee said. "Migrants held at the detention center need more space and equipment."

On Feb. 11, 2007, a fire broke out at the detention center of the Yeosu Immigration Office in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province. The fire killed 10 migrant workers...

..and injured 18 others.

Amnesty International issued a 98-page report on the incident last year that said immigration officers and police are often accused of using excessive force against migrant workers. The organization also called for the government to ensure that during immigration raids, authorities adhere to the law requiring them to identify themselves, present a warrant and inform migrant workers of their rights, and to provide prompt medical treatment to those under their custody when needed.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/02/113_60575.html

Related:
☞ 여수 보호소 화재참사 3주기 추모 대회 기자회견 (MTU, 2.09)
☞ [2.09] Press Conference/video report (salad TV)
☞ Immigration Detention Centers in S.Korea... (Hankyoreh, 2.09)

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MediAct sent y'day following update about the current protest/solidarity campaign:

Within one week's time starting Jan. 26, we were able to generate signatures from folks from over 42 countries.

Your actions lent a voice to Mediact staff and supporters within South Korea demanding a reversal of KOFIC & the Cuture Ministry's decision to dismantle Mediact.

The petition was delivered during the week of Feb 1. to the head offices in Seoul as well as through various Korean Consulates (Tokyo, Osaka, Vancouver, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Taipei and this week via Budapest).

KOFIC has since sent a formal reply maintaining a line about the 'fairness' of its 'new open competition process,' and in turn, many of you (joined by press outlets within South Korea ranging from independent to conservative press) in return are demanding that it share the criteria and the application materials from the first and second round for (international) public review, and are questioning the legality of KOFIC and the Culture Ministry's actions.

Now lawmakers in the National Assembly are preparing to push a reversal of the decision during the February session.

Please help maintain a vigilant watch over this process! You are making a difference! Encourage someone or some organization you know to endorse the petition, cover this issue, visit the consulate office near you, and participate in a creative act of support.

For all other updates, please see:
☞ ACT NOW to save MediAct & Independent Media in Korea!

Previous contribution:
☞ MediAct & the S.Korean 'Democracy'

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Today's ("left"-liberal) Hankyoreh published following article:

DLP investigation issue strengthening

opposition party solidarity

DLP members hold a press conference to voice opposition to the search and seizure

conducted on DLP’s server at their headquarters in Seoul, Feb. 8.

Participants at a meeting of four opposition party chairs Monday morning expressed their anger arising from the police investigation of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP). The chairs, representing the DLP, the Democratic Party (DP), the New Progressive Party (NPP) and the Creative Korea Party (CKP), reportedly were unanimous in their criticism of the investigation, saying that the investigation of DLP members, on the heels of investigations of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook and former CKP chair Moon Kook-hyun, smacks of a targeted campaign against opposition parties.

Criticisms also rained down at a meeting of the DP Supreme Council Monday morning. Council member Park Joo-sun said, “Just as it is not acceptable to conduct a brain exam and open up a patient who comes in for treatment with a wound on the hand, we cannot accept this excessive investigation of the DLP.” Park added, “In 1987, when the opposition United Democratic Party was founded, the Roh Tae-woo administration hired gangsters to block the assembly.” Park continued, “Is this the Lee Myung-bak administration’s ‘Yongpal incident redux’” Youngpal, a gang leader, was hired by the former authoritarian administration to intimidate and destroy the general assembly meetings of opposition parties.

In the afternoon, DP spokesman Woo Sang-ho devoted about half of his remarks to the issue. “According to media reports, teachers and teachers’ groups supporting the Grand National Party (GNP) have paid untold amounts of contributions and engaged in all kinds of support activities for the GNP over the past seven or eight years,” Woo said. “Why are they not being investigated?”

Woo added, “In keeping with the equity of its investigations of the DLP and the Korean Teachers and Education Workers‘ Union, the Lee Myung-bak administration needs to immediately carry out a search and seizure on GNP-leaning teachers’ groups and the GNP itself.”

This marks the first time opposition parties have joined forces to fight a particular issue since last August, when the DP and DLP formed a joint fact-finding committee to investigation allegations about the Defense Security Command’s (DSC) civilian surveillance. At the time, their activities were buried by the confirmation hearing for Prime Minister Chung Un-chan and the parliamentary audit of the administration and failed to conclude as they had hoped. This time, however, their response differs in its intensity.

During the previous incident, the DSC had suspected the ideology of members of the DLP and monitored them to see if they were violating the National Security Act, and other opposition parties that were not particularly concerned about ideological arguments kept their criticisms at a basic level. In this incident, however, the other opposition parties are perceiving the investigation as their own issue and pursuing direct action. Monday’s meeting among the four opposition party chairs reportedly took place at the suggestion of DP Chairman Chung Sye-kyun. Spokesman Woo said, “If the police get their hands on the party register and begin to summon people one by one, who will want to be part of the opposition? People will be too scared.”

Woo added, “If this type of incident took place among our local constituencies, only a third of our party members would remain.”

Also readily lending its support was the NPP, which has maintained awkward relations with the DLP since their split in 2008. NPP Chairman Roh Hoi-chan visited the DLP headquarters on Monday and strongly voiced criticism of the Lee administration to DLP Chairman Kang Ki-kab. Roh said, “During the time of progressive adminstrations, the police did not go about breaking into party headquarters and snatching party registers.” Kang responded, “I can now see that internal solidarity comes about when external troubles arise. Thank you for coming here first.”

Kang also said, “If you tread on the barley roots in the cold winter so that they do not freeze, the barley will rise up bright green in the spring. We must respond together in the same way.”

This activity also appears likely to have positive effects on the opposition party election coalition currently being discussed ahead of this year’s regional elections. DLP spokesman Woo Wi-young said, “What use is it trying to do a good job when an election is around the corner?” Woo added, “Our cooperation in the regional elections can only produce a synergy effect when we are on good terms ordinarily, provide mutual support when times are tough, and build up trust.”

In view of this, some analysts are saying that the proactive response by the DP, the primary opposition party, will be of considerable help in achieving solidarity among opposition parties and unity between progressive camps and camps supporting reform.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/403735.html

 
Today's protest/press conference in front of the S.K. parliament in Seoul/Yeouido (source: KCTU)
 

Today's (bourgeois) Korea Herald reports following:

Arrest warrant issued for DLP official 

 
The court (today) issued the arrest warrant on Oh Byeong-yoon, secretary general of the minority Democratic Labor Party, on charges of destroying the evidence of the alleged collusion between labor unions and the party.

Oh is suspected of receiving and hiding two sets of computer hard disks containing proof that labor union members illicitly participated in votes, according to officials.

Investigators suspect that other party members were involved in the act and will seek their arrest warrants as well, said officials.

The police last month raised the investigation on illicit political fund allegations of the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers and the Korean Government Employees' Unions.

Government officials or teachers are forbidden to join political parties or to raise political funds, according to the Constitution and the civil servant law.

While leading the investigation on 800 KTEU members who breached the National Security Law by issuing an antigovernment statement last July, investigators found evidence of illegal political activity involving 290 members.

During the investigation, 120 members were found out to have joined the party and many even participated in the party vote for its officials, said police officials.

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/02/10/201002100031.asp

Related report:
☞ 민주노동당 사무총장 체포영장 발부 (KCTU, 2.09)

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About 60 Democratic Labor Party (DLP) members clashed yesterday(2.07) morning with police investigators, backed by about 750 riot cops, as the inquisitors raided the KT Internet center in Seongnam City/Bundang (Gyeonggi Province) to seize more computer servers belonging to the DLP to investigate "political activities by public servants and teachers" (*):

* For more about the "event" please read:
☞ Police conduct second seizure of DLP server (Hankyoreh, 2.08)

Related previous contribution:
☞ Cops, Prosecution vs. KTU, KGEU & DLP (1.28)

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Of course this news isn't new anymore, but two days ago it has been the TOP STORY in the national (N.K./S.K.) and int'l media:

 North Korea Release US Human Rights Activist 

While everyone makes now a supposition what (TFH!?) changed R. Park's mind (remember that he wanted to stay in N.K., even in a 'gulag', "until the last political prisoner will be freed"!!) - one reader in The Marmot's Hole: "Testicle shocks will make a man say the darndest things." - I'm assuming that Park was from the very beginning a part of a (well done!!) PR aktion/campaign by WPK's propaganda department (^^).

Related articles:
☞ Desperation fuels North Korea's leniency (Asia Times, 2.06)

American Trespasser Interviewed

Pyongyang, February 5 (KCNA) -- As already reported, American national Robert Park was detained for trespassing on the northern border of the DPRK in December last year.

He was interviewed by KCNA at his proposal while he was under investigation by the relevant organ of the DPRK.

At the interview, he said that he was taken in by the false rumor spread by the West and committed a criminal act in the end.

Mr. Park during the 'interview': "The DPRK respects the rights of all the people

and guarantees freedom, a happy and stable life" (source: KCNA, 2.05)

He went on to say:

I trespassed on the border due to my wrong understanding of the DPRK caused by the false propaganda made by the West to tarnish its image.

The West is massively feeding "Children of Secret State", "Seoul Train" and other documentary videos with stories about non-existent "human rights abuses" and "mass killings" in the DPRK and "unbearable sufferings" of its Christians and the like.

This false propaganda prompted me, a Christian, to entertain a biased view on the DPRK.

So I didn't know what to do at that time. I just prayed and fasted and that was my initial response, but year by year more news reports, international media reports came and there were more videos saying the same thing, in fact, saying that it was getting worse, and so that's why I started to become more and more distraught. If there are people in concentration camps, if Christians are dying like this, if there is starvation I have to die with them. If I help them I would go to Heaven but if I don't help them I would go to Hell.

At last I made up my mind to go to the DPRK.

Upon trespassing on the border, I thought I would be either shot to death by soldiers or thrown behind bars, prompted by Americans' false propaganda about the DPRK.

However, the moment I trespassed on the border, the attitude of soldiers toward the trespasser made me change my mind.

Not only service personnel but all those I met in the DPRK treated me in a kind and gentlemanly manner and protected my rights.

I have never seen such kind and generous people.

People have been incredibly kind and generous here to me, very concerned for my physical health as never before in my life. I mean, my family, of course, is concerned about my physical health but people here have been constantly concerned and I'm very thankful for their love.

Another shocking fact I experienced during my stay in the DPRK is that the religious freedom is fully ensured in the DPRK, a reality different from what is claimed by the West.

Being a devout Christian, I thought such things as praying are unimaginable in the DPRK due to the suppression of religion.

I, however, gradually became aware that I was wrong.

Everybody neither regarded praying as something unusual nor disturbed it. I was provided with conditions for praying everyday as I wished.

What astonished me more was that a bible was returned to me.

This fact alone convinced me that the religious freedom is fully ensured in the DPRK.

I came to have stronger belief as I had an opportunity to attend the service in the Pongsu Church in Pyongyang.

I worshipped and there, there was the Jondosa, there, there was a pastor, there was a choir, they knew the hymns, they knew the word of God. That's why I was completely amazed. But I began to weep and weep in the Christian service because I learned that there are churches and Christians such as Pongsu Kyohoe (Church) in different cities and regions all throughout the DPRK. They worship, pray and preach freely the word of the Bible and Christ word. I've learned that in the DPRK people can read and believe whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want, that there's complete religious freedom for all people everywhere throughout the DPRK.

What I have seen and heard in the DPRK convinced me that I misunderstood it. So I seriously repented of the wrong I committed, taken in by the West's false propaganda.

I would not have committed such crime if I had known that the DPRK respects the rights of all the people and guarantees their freedom and they enjoy a happy and stable life.

I have felt shock, embarrassment, shame. Here I'm in the lands where people respect human rights and, not just respecting human rights, they have actually loved me and showed me more than just human rights. They have shown me grace. I repent and ask for forgiveness to the DPRK for my misunderstanding totally DPRK's reality and my criminal illegal behavior. Had I known the reality of the DPRK, what I've learned here, what I have been shown here, what I've been taught here, what I've been informed here by all the kind people here about the DPRK, I would have never done what I did on the December 25th and I repent and I'm very sorry.

Prompted by my desire to redeem the crime I committed against the government of the DPRK, I would make every effort to let those who misunderstand the DPRK properly know what I experienced here so they may have a correct understanding of it.

He, as a Christian, expressed his will to earnestly pray so reunification may be achieved and peace settle on the Korean Peninsula as early as possible.

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2010/201002/news05/20100205-08ee.html

Related previous contribution:
☞ "Christmas Greetings" for the Dear Leader (09.12.27)