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By Steven Borowiec
When Kim Jong-il died in late 2011, videos of sobbing North Koreans sparked international discussion, as many questioned the sincerity of the theatrical crying.
While it’s impossible to know how North Koreans really feel about the regime in Pyongyang, there is no question about Hwang Seung-ho’s love for North Korea.
“The DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) is the only country that really takes care of its people and is a true democracy,” said 40-year-old Hwang, at a coffee shop in Bundang, a well-off suburb of Seoul. “All the people support one leadership and give their full-hearted support to one goal.”
Hwang isn’t a well-placed North Korean bureaucrat. As manager of Victims of the Korean National Security Law, he is part of a small but persistent community of pro-North activists in South Korea.
While North Koreans must appear invested in the system to avoid the heavy hand of the state, it is illegal to support North Korea in the South. Hwang’s home has been raided by police, who confiscated all his materials on North Korea, and he was fired from his last job as a math tutor for his political activities.
Under South Korea’s National Security Law (NSL), all kinds of people are being swept up, accused of pro-North activities.
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Steven Borowiec is Deputy English Editor for the Hankyoreh.