Court upholds ruling in favor of revoking operation permit for N.K. defector group

▲ This computer-generated image shows floating balloons that carry leaflets critical of the North Korean regime. (Yonhap)

court-defectors group

Court upholds ruling in favor of revoking operation permit for N.K. defector group

SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Yonhap) -- An appellate court on Thursday ruled in favor of the unification ministry's 2020 decision to revoke the operation permit of a North Korean defector group accused of spreading propaganda leaflets to the North.

In July 2020, the ministry annulled the operating licenses of two North Korean defector groups, including Fighters for a Free North Korea, saying their leaflet campaigns "gravely hindered" efforts toward unification and threatened the safety of South Korean residents in the border areas.

The move came a month after North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in its border city of Kaesong in anger over leaflets criticizing leader Kim Jong-un, saying such leafleting violates a series of peace agreements between the two sides.

Fighters for a Free North Korea lodged an administrative suit to reverse the unification ministry's decision.

In September last year, the Seoul Administrative Court sided with the revocation decision, saying its leaflet campaigns go against the public interest of having to ensure safety in the border areas. The ruling was upheld by the Seoul High Court on Thursday.

Losing operation permits will make it hard for the group to raise money for its operations and activities, as revocation will make it ineligible for various benefits available to registered organizations.

In South Korea, some North Korean defectors, including Fighters for a Free North Korea, often send big plastic balloons carrying leaflets over to the North in what they say is a bid to free North Korean people from the tyrant North Korean regime with outside information.

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