| Submit your comments on this article |
| China-Japan-Koreas |
| In S. Korea, Clash Over Anti-Kim Jong Il Leaflets Turns Violent |
| 2008-12-03 |
| Park Sang Hak, a North Korean defector, launches balloons bound for his homeland. They carry leaflets accusing North Korean leader Kim Jong Il of being a drinker of pricey wine, a seducer of other men's wives, a murderer, a slaveholder, a dictator and "the devil." The South Korean government says it wishes Park wouldn't rain all this aggravation on a heavily armed neighbor, but it says it is powerless to stop him. So about the only thing that usually stops Park's balloons is a wind that won't blow north. But on Tuesday morning here at Paju, near the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas, Park and his compatriots ran into a bunch of South Korean activists willing to fight to keep the balloons on the ground. Park's anti-Kim leaflets, they shouted, were a threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula. A balloon-driven rumble broke out. Scores of police struggled to keep it from turning into a full-blown riot. Before it was over, Park kicked one of the counter-protesters squarely in the head -- a blow that sounded like a bat whacking a hardball. He spat on several others who were trying to rip apart bags of leaflets. He pulled a tear-gas revolver from his jacket, and fired it into the air before police grabbed it away from him. In the end, Park's group managed to launch just one of their 10 balloons. Thousands of leaflets were torn from bags and spilled onto the ground. Ballooning in the Korean borderlands, it seems, has become a contact sport. Leaflets dropped this fall in the North have infuriated the government there, which is believed to be particularly sensitive to personal attacks aimed at Kim, owing to the stroke he reportedly suffered in August and the subsequent firestorm of speculation about his mental and physical competence. The leaflets have been an aggravating factor in the North's unusually belligerent behavior this fall toward the government of South Korea. Effective this week, the North drastically cut access for South Koreans working at the Kaesong industrial complex, located just north of the border. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 Rumor has it the boy has a taste for Hennessy XO Cognac. Not wine, granted, but in a country where the major drinks are a local liquor known as soju and beer (maekju), using wine as a synonym for cognac is probably close enough to be understood by the target audience. Good for the balloonists. Kim Jong Il is a right bastard who deserves a Ceaucescu moment in his very near future. |
| Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800 2008-12-03 23:32 |
| #7 Kim Jong Il of being a drinker of pricey wine, a seducer of other men's wives, a murderer, a slaveholder, a dictator and "the devil That's a little strong, I know of no evidence that he drinks pricey wine. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2008-12-03 22:47 |
| #6 Yes indeed, Lagom. Tall hair, short IQ. It's some sort of genetic balancing act, I imagine. ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-12-03 19:49 |
| #5 speculation about his [Kim] mental and physical competence. Pardon me if this is a bit thick, but his mental competence always been a question, yes? |
| Posted by: Lagom 2008-12-03 17:11 |
| #4 Forget that. I'm being old fashioned. iPods! That's it. Send 'em some iPods pre-loaded with some really good stuff. Takes a little bit of money is all. Where can I contribute? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-12-03 12:14 |
| #3 I love it. Hey, maybe they could send 'em some Led Zepellin CDs while they're at it. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-12-03 12:11 |
| #2 Ballooning in the Korean borderlands, it seems, has become a contact sport. Politics has long been a contact sport in South Korea, if only between rioters and police. But still, a beautifully crafted sentence. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-12-03 09:02 |
| #1 So the peaceniks don't like it, eh? What ever happened to speakin' troof to powah? |
| Posted by: Spot 2008-12-03 08:01 |