hankyoreh

South Koreans visiting Pyongyang for a youth soccer tournament were made to sign a waiver that restricts their constitutional rights on Aug. 10. One of the waiver’s passages reads

A controversy has formed over a waiver that appears to excessively restrict the constitutional rights of 151 South Koreans who are visiting Pyongyang to participate in an international youth soccer tournament being held there from Aug. 13 to 18 and to shift government responsibility to the individuals.

The problematic passages in the waiver state that individuals must “assume responsibility” for accidents that may occur during their visit to North Korea and require individuals to “consult with the Unification Ministry before disclosing any facts learned or material acquired during their time in North Korea.”

The group that asked participants to sign the waiver was the South and North Korean Sports Exchange Association (Kim Gyeong-seong, president), which was authorized to visit North Korea by the Unification Ministry. Even so, this affair is ultimately tied to the Unification Ministry, since the association was following the Ministry’s “recommendation” when it issued the waiver.

“We’re on the bus before going through Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine (CIQ) on the Gyeongui Line, and they’re telling us to fill out the waiver. I’ve been visiting North Korea for nearly 20 years now, and this is the first time I’ve signed this kind of thing. There are lots of problems with what it says, too,” one member of the delegation told The Hankyoreh on Aug. 10.

The waiver that this person signed consists of a total of six clauses, along with a preface that says, “Being fully aware that my words and actions can have a profound impact on inter-Korean relations, I will faithfully abide by the following terms.” The particularly problematic clauses are the fifth and sixth. The sixth clause reads as follows: “Individuals will take care of their personal safety during their visit to North Korea and will assume responsibility in the event of an accident or violation of relevant regulations.”

The part of the waiver asking participants to confirm their responsibility for their personal safety opens up the government to criticism that it’s neglecting its responsibility.

The fifth clause states that individuals must “consult with the Unification Ministry before disclosing any facts learned or material acquired during their time in North Korea.” Unless there are concerns that the content in question may conflict with the National Security Act, demanding prior consultation with the government is liable to lead to an excessive infringement on the freedom of expression without any legal basis.

To be sure, the Unification Minister “may impose conditions [. . .] in order to promote smooth inter-Korean exchange and cooperation” when the government authorizes a visit to North Korea (Article 9, Clause 4, of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act). The act’s enforcement decree elaborates on this section by listing five conditions in Article 12, Clause 6: 1) restricting or changing the purpose, persons, place or route of the visit; 2) submitting the schedule when crossing the Military Demarcation Line; 3) submitting a report on the results of the visit; 4) completing training for the visit; and 5) other matters that the Unification Minister deems necessary for facilitating inter-Korean exchange and cooperation and maintaining order.

The fifth and sixth clauses in the waiver either have no certain legal basis or at the most would serve the purpose of making it easier for the government to maintain order.

“I’ve been told that the group that collected the waiver was not the Unification Ministry but the [South and North Korean Sports Exchange] Association and that they collected it not from all 151 people on the delegation but just the leaders of each area. The Ministry doesn’t even have the waiver in its possession,” an official with the Unification Ministry said on Aug. 12 when asked for comment.

But when asked whether this waiver was unconnected to the Unification Ministry, this official said, “The government placed conditions on approving the visit to North Korea and in that sense we worked with the association on an administrative level so that they would be careful and alert about sticking to the purpose of their visit.” This means that the Unification Ministry provided “recommendations.”

When asked about the legal grounds for collecting waivers, the official said it was “equivalent to carrying out training for a visit to North Korea.”

“The idea was to ask individuals to be especially careful in light of the government’s unlimited responsibility for the safety of its citizens, and not to hold them individually responsible. There appears to be some room for improving the rather awkward language [of the waiver],” the official added.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

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