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Defectors from North Korea launch propaganda balloons across the inter-Korean border on May 31. (provided by Fighters for Free North Korea)

A partial amendment of the Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act passed by the National Assembly on Dec. 14 represents both a legal execution of the terms in Item 2-1 of the Panmunjom Declaration of Apr. 27, 2018, as well as an official end to the dissemination of propaganda leaflets in North Korea that threw inter-Korean relations into turmoil last June.

The legal enforcement of Item 2-1 of the Panmunjom Declaration, which pledged to “stop all the hostile acts including the loud-speaker broadcasting and scattering of leaflets in the areas along the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) from May 1 [and] to dismantle their means,” comes two years and eight months after the declaration was proclaimed.

For this reason, many have taken to referring to the amended law as the “North Korea Leaflet Prohibition Act.”

With the legislation sending a strong signal of commitment of enforcing the inter-Korean agreement in the face of strenuous opposition from the People Power Party (PPP), the Moon Jae-in administration and Democratic Party were effectively calling for an answer from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ahead of the 8th Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Congress next January.

This is the first South Korean law that prohibits and punishes the scattering of leaflets across the inter-Korean border. To date, the matter has been regulated by laws with different legislative purposes unrelated to the policing of propaganda dissemination — including the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act, the Aviation Safety Act, and the Public Waters Management Act — leading to a debate over their efficacy and legal legitimacy.

Articles 2 and 24 of the new legislation define “loudspeaker broadcasts to North Korea,” the “presentation of visual media to North Korea,” and “leaflets, etc.” (including items such as advertisements, printed matter, and memory devices as well as money and other forms of property benefits) in “regions north of the Civilian Control Line” (south of the MDL) as “distribution to unspecified members of the North Korean public,” while stressing that “damage or serious threats to the lives and persons of South Korean citizens must not be permitted.”

Article 25-1 states that violations are punishable by “up to three years in prison or fines of up to 30 million won [US$27,446].” Article 24-2 states that the Minister of Unification (MOU) “may request cooperation from the head of a central administrative agency or local government” to prevent prohibited acts.

The legislative action was intended to increase the efficacy of crackdowns on leaflets while eliminating the potential for legal debate, thus preventing the seeds of unintended military clashes such as North Korea’s firing of anti-aircraft guns on Oct. 10, 2014, to protest the scattering of leaflets, or its demolition of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in Kaesong on June 16, 2020.

As the presiding government agency, the MOU shared a message on Dec. 15 welcoming the amendment as a “law to protect the lives and safety” of 1.12 million border region residents and the rest of the South Korean public, as well as a “law to promote improvements to inter-Korean relations” and “law to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

Minister of Unification Lee In-young said the amendment was significant as “a measure to protect the lives and safety of border residents and another effort to implement inter-Korean agreements.” An association of mayors and county governors in border communities and residents of the region previously submitted proposals and petitions calling for a halt to leaflet scattering and the enactment of regulations.

The PPP and North Korean defector groups responsible for propaganda dissemination vehemently opposed the amendment, which they characterized as a “law dictated by [WPK Central Committee Deputy Director] Kim Yo-jong.”

On the front page of its Dec. 15 edition, the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper printed an article titled “Even the delivery of K-drama USBs and rice via the North Korea-Chinese Border is now illegal.” But this claim is based on misunderstandings or distortions. The law is limited to the “MDL vicinity” (regions north of the Civilian Control Line), and the MOU has denied that the mere conveyance of items by way of a third country would fall within the scope of the law.

Problems would only occur if people attached US dollars to leaflet balloons as “bait” to encourage North Koreans to read the content, or if they placed rice in plastic bottles along with leaflets. Such acts are distinct from humanitarian aid such as rice shipments and acts of exchange and cooperation in accordance with the Exchange and Cooperation Act, which would obviously not be subject to regulations, the MOU stressed.

The matter could end up becoming a source of controversy with the US if a Congressional hearing over the legislation is held as announced in a personal statement on Dec. 11 by Chris Smith, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]