N.Korean Defectors Want to Serve in Special Reserve Force

Hundreds of North Korean defectors have denounced Pyongyang's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island last month and are urging the government to set up a special reserve force made up of those who fled the North. The North Korean People's Liberation Front, a group of defectors who served in the military there, said Tuesday it has received a petition signed by over 330 North Korean defectors so far.

Once the number of signatures increases to 1,000, it will submit the petition to Cheong Wa Dae and the Defense Ministry.

The petition says defectors know better than most that the North will not give up on its aim of Communist reunification of the Korean Peninsula and that they are ready to fight to liberate their compatriots in the North. It calls for a special reserve force of defectors to be established in the South Korean military.

Defectors can make an important contribution to security because of their first-hand knowledge of the North Korean military, which could hasten the demise of the Kim Jong-il regime, according to the group's leader Kim Sung-min. He added South Koreans seem complacent about the threat from the North because they do not know enough about it. "Real peace can only be achieved based on a firm sense of national security and strong defense," he said.

The Liberation Front will hold a forum at the Seoul Press Center on Monday to analyze the North's military capabilities and discuss ways of dealing with them.

The group also joined hands with activists Fighters for Free North Korea in floating balloons from Baeknyeong Island in the West Sea on Tuesday carrying 200,000 leaflets denouncing the North's artillery attack and the three-generation dynastic rule.