SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Yonhap) – Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung sent a letter to the United Nations and the US Congress calling for support for the law South Korea has passed to ban the sending of leaflets to anti-Pyongyang propaganda towards North Korea, officials informed on Sunday.
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Lee, seen as a potential candidate in the next presidential election and well placed in the polls, wrote in the letter that the mailing ban was a minimum measure to protect the lives, safety and property of those living in the Gyeonggi province which has a common border with North Korea.
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In the missive, Lee stressed the peaceful nature of the law, which aims to avoid unnecessary military tensions and confrontations with the North and to improve inter-Korean relations, according to provincial government officials.
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The National Assembly, heavily dominated by the Democratic Party, enacted the ban last year after Pyongyang expressed exasperation over flyers that criticize the North Korean regime and its leader. Carried away by this anger, the North went so far as to blow up the inter-Korean liaison office in June of last year.
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The government and the ruling party believe this ban is necessary to protect border residents as these shipments can provoke the North and lead to belligerent acts on its part, such as fire at the balloons carrying the leaflets.
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Numerous critics, including US lawmakers and international humanitarian groups, have raised concerns about the law, pointing out that it may run counter to free speech and undermine efforts to send outside information to the reclusive North.
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Lee dismissed these claims, saying the law is a legitimate exercise of South Korea’s sovereignty to protect its people and will help restore trust between the two Koreas and advance inter-Korean relations.
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The letter was addressed to the UN Secretary General, the Chairman of the House Human Rights Committee, the Chairs of the House and Senate Foreign Affairs Committees, the Acting US Ambassador in Seoul, to the European Union’s ambassador to South Korea and to the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in North Korea, officials said.
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