Kim Jong Il, always the champion of human rights everywhere, cries loudly at Seoul’s amplification of denouncing his own dismal record:

The bills call on the government to provide conservative activist groups with up to 300 million won (US$ 218,000) to aid them in making and sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the inter-Korean border.

Emphasis mine. It appears while the leaflet wars have stopped temporarily by North Korean defectors, the same government that asked them to slow it down for now is ready to give money to them. I do not understand the entire scope of the political decisions behind this, but I will leave that to ROK policy experts (or readers can help me understand this better).

Another thing I do not understand is the conservative/liberal divide on the issue of human rights in South Korea. I always assumed human rights was a non-partisan issue. I mean, after all, North Koreans really have no say in what goes on in their home country. I figured everybody would agree Kim Jong Il’s human rights abuses are to always be condemned. Again, if somebody could help me understand this better, that would be fantastic.

Another thing:

The laws are currently pending in Seoul’s parliament. They also call for restoring a propaganda radio broadcast aimed at North Korea that was shut down under a 2003 joint agreement.

I need to research this more, and seems like an interesting topic to look into. Whatever the case may be, this would be interesting to see if this legislation does pass. What the chances of this passing is something else I do not know either.

Opposition parties and progressive civic groups in Seoul are strongly opposed to the North Korea human rights laws, accusing President Lee Myung-bak and his conservative party of risking further tension with Pyongyang.

Again, here is something else I do not understand about the debate. Does it really matter if it sours ties further? This has been an ongoing problem for decades, and all the money tossed across the DMZ has not done a whole lot.The Sunshine Policy has been an utter failure from where I sit, and it seems to me no matter how much sugary flowery prose is sent Kim’s way, the same result will happen. So what is the best way to handle the situation?

Discuss.

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