Kim Deok-hong, a former North Korean businessman who defected from North Korea along with former North Korean Workers¡¯ Party secretary Hwang Jang-yeop in 1997, tried to hold a press conference at the Foreign Press Club at the Seoul Press Center. However, as the police kept him from appearing in public place due to safety reasons, Kim held a press conference via Internet at his home. He said at the beginning of the conference, ¡°I wanted to go to the venue of the conference, but the police told me that they cannot guarantee my safety if I go outside. So I have to meet you through the Internet.¡± Kim revealed his stance on recent issues like the court¡¯s ruling in favor of Song Doo-yul.
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Kim Deok-hong, a North Korean defector who fled to the South with former [North] Korean Labor Party Secretary Hwang Jang-yeop, holds a videoconference Wednesday after the police stopped him from holding a planned foreign press conference due to safety reasons.
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In regards to the ruling of Song Doo-yul, Kim said, ¡°The court¡¯s ruling is wrong. There is obvious evidence against Song. North Korean people know what he did in the North and that he learned Juche ideology in North Korea. And also, he was invited to late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung¡¯s funeral, to which high-ranking North Korean officials could not be easily invited.¡±
In connection with the explosion in the North Korean city of Ryongchon in April, Kim said, ¡°I believe that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il himself plotted the incident. After the explosion took place, North Korean underground organizations spread leaflets saying that the explosion was schemed by the North Korean leader. Those North Korean anti-Kim Jong-il underground groups are organized into cells and dedicated to spreading leaflets to disclose the realities of the Kim Jong-il regime, he said.
An official at the Seoul Police Agency in charge of protecting Kim explained, ¡°We persuaded him not to go outside because we have gotten information about threats to Kim, after his interview with the Japanese newspaper Sankei was printed.¡±
Some people point out, however, that the police banned Kim from holding a press conference in a public place because they were concerned that Kim might criticize the Kim Jong-il regime and the current South Korean government¡¯s policies toward the North, considering the government did not permit Kim to visit the U.S. and has restricted Kim¡¯s outside activities.
(Kang Cheol-hwan, nkch@chosun.com )
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