Korean Security Law

I wish to clarify some misperceptions presented in a July 27 editorial, “Seoul Needs to Lighten Up.” The Korean Peninsula has been the recipient of intense and occasionally sensationalistic coverage over the last 18 months regarding the North Korean nuclear issue, the recent death of North Korean President Kim Il Sung and the succession of Kim Jong Il. However, an important element was often missing in this coverage--that being the perceptions and policies of the South Korean people and their government.

The National Security Law, enacted by the South Korean government and clearly understood by dissidents, publishers and leftist students alike, was still in effect at the time of Kim Il Sung’s death. Certain individuals and radical students influenced and/or directed by North Korea choose to deliberately defy these regulations. Their efforts, whether they be violent or nonviolent, are designed to destabilize our democratic society.

South Korea is engaged in ongoing dialogues with North Korea on many important issues. Korean citizens at home and abroad are regularly granted permission by South Korea to make personal trips to North Korea to visit relatives. Only those few who intentionally violate the law are subject to arrest and trial.

We must enforce laws passed by our democratic institutions that are designed to preserve a stable and democratic society.

LEE JOON HO, Director

Korean Cultural Center

Consulate General of the Republic of Korea

Los Angeles