Moon Administration Using National Security Law to Investigate April Fool’s Day Posters

Dr. Tara O has an article posted about the April Fool’s Day posters that were put up on college campus around South Korea lampooning people to overthrow the Moon administration on behalf of Kim Jong-un. The posters were put up by the Jeondaehyeop organization that many members of the Moon administration were once part of:

Satire posters criticizing the Moon Jae-in administration popped up all over South Korean university campuses to coincide with April Fools’ Day. The heading on the posters stated “Letter to South Korean students” and “Let’s overthrow the South Korean system” with  Kim Jong-un and Jeondaehyeop (전대협) listed at the bottom. The group claimed they posted in about 450 universities nationwide.

There are two Jeondaehyeop organizations.  The older Jeondaehyeop, also known as the National Council of Student Representatives, was a university student organization formed in 1987.  It was controlled by the “NL” (National Liberation) faction. This group, whose members are now in their 50s and many of whom are in the Moon administration and the ruling party, worshipped Kim Il Sung and looked to North Korea to usher in socialism/communism in South Korea and to unify the Korean Peninsula. They saw the U.S. as an obstacle to this goal, thus were (and still are) active in anti-U.S. activities

Im Jong-seok (임종석), President Moon Jae-in’s former Chief of Staff, was the third president of Jeondaehyeop and led many prominent pro-North Korea activities, including arranging for another student Lim Su-kyung’s (임수경) illegal visit to North Korea in 1989.  When Im was called a communist, he sued another citizen for libel. The fourth president of Jeondahyup Song Kap-seok (송갑석) said “North Korea is the only legitimate government on the Korean Peninsula, which guarantees justice and sovereignty, and only the unification by North Korea is the genuine motherland unification” (3:09).  Song is now a national assemblyman, Deoburreo Minjoo Party. Song was also the  Deputy Chief Administrator of Moon Jae-in’s presidential campaign and the Chairman of the Gwangju Regional Committee of the Rho Moo-hyun Foundation.

East Asia Research Center

You can read much more at the link, to include the full English translation of the poster. Something I did not realize is that the Jeondaehyeop organization which was once pro-North Korean is now an anti-North Korean student group.

Besides the group changing its political leanings, what is so ironic about this is that the Moon administration is investigating Jeondaehyeop under the National Security Law, when they have allowed openly pro-North Korean rallies in the middle of Seoul.

When you read the English translation of the poster it is pretty clear why the Moon administration is hitting back at this group hard because much of what is said in the poster may resonate with many Koreans.