Korea defectors look to topple Kim
Political group attacks South Korean policy of engagement with the North.
Published On 9 Apr 2007
“Some 23 million compatriots in the North are still groaning under dictatorship and repression, worse than Japan’s past colonial rule,” it said.
“South Korean taxpayers’ money has returned as [North Korean] nuclear weapons and missiles, but few raise this problem.”
Missile tests
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Hwang Jang-yop has been named |
North Korea staged missile tests in July and a nuclear test in October.
Hwang Jang-yop, the highest-ranking defector to the South, has been named chairman of the group.
Hwang was secretary of the ruling Workers’ party before defecting in 1997. He is now a leading critic of Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader.
About 10,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea in the past 50 years – 1,600 last year alone.
Hundreds of thousands are estimated to be hiding in China awaiting a chance to go to South Korea.
The group estimates that there are 400,000 North Korean refugees in China and elsewhere.