South Korean President Park Geun-hye yesterday told her government to prepare for large-scale defections from North Korea, just days after directly appealing to its citizens to flee their country.
A recent spate of high-profile North Korean defections have provided a propaganda windfall for Seoul, which has spun them into a narrative of a Pyongyang leadership in crisis and riven with descent. In an address to mark Armed Forced Day earlier this month, Park had vowed to “keep the road open” for future escapees and urged North Koreans to “come to the bosom of freedom in the South.”
Pyongyang’s response was to call Park a “bare-faced and impudent bitch” in a commentary carried by the ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun.
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Park reiterated her defection appeal and stressed the importance of preparing the ground for any new arrivals.
“Defectors are like unification that has arrived early, and a test bed for unification,” Park said.
“I hope we can swiftly secure sufficient system and capacity to accommodate North Korean citizens who come seeking freedom,” the president added.
The government currently runs two resettlement centers for defectors with a combined capacity of about 1,100 people.
In other news, the coast guard yesterday warned of a “more aggressive” firearms policy toward Chinese fishing boats illegally operating in South Korean waters, following a clash on Sunday that sank one of its vessels.
The coast guard vessel capsized and sank after being rammed by a Chinese trawler, which then sailed away.
There were no casualties, but the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday summoned the Chinese ambassador in Seoul to lodge a stern protest and demand “swift action to investigate, arrest and punish those responsible.”
The coast guard called a news conference to condemn the incident and warn of eased restrictions on the use of weapons — ranging from ship’s cannon to crew sidearms — during such altercations.
“So far we have been very cautious using such crew service weapons, but now ... we will take a more aggressive stance in using them when our officers are in danger,” senior coastguard official Lee Chun-jae told reporters.
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