Resolution of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers calling for the complete repeal of the National Security Law in South Korea
The International Association of Democratic Lawyers calls on President Moon Jae-in to completely abolish the National Security Law in South Korea.
1. The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) notes that in South Korea, demands such as the replacement of the Panmunjeom armistice agreement with a peace treaty, the withdrawal of US troops from South Korea and the reunification of the Korean peninsula under a federal system are prohibited by the National Security Law (NSL) because considered identical to those of North Korea and favorable to the enemy. As a result, repression falls on the women and men who make these demands.
2. Achieving peace and reunification of the Korean peninsula is one of the key issues for the preservation of peace in Northeast Asia and in the world. The replacement of the Panmunjeom armistice agreement with a peace treaty, the withdrawal of US troops from South Korea and the reunification of the Korean peninsula under a federal system are indispensable tasks for resolving Korean problems through dialogue and negotiation.
The United States has no legitimacy to intervene, repeatedly violated the 1953 armistice agreement, and has continued to be an obstacle to peace and reunification in Korea. The Panmunjeom armistice agreement provided for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the Korean peninsula. In accordance with this agreement, China withdrew its troops, but the US concluded a mutual defense treaty with South Korea in 1953, continuously threatens North Korea with their nuclear weapons, and maintains military bases on it and around the Korean Peninsula in violation of international law. The US still refuses to sign a peace treaty putting a definitive end to the “Korean War”, a peace treaty provided for in the Panmunjeom armistice agreement.
In order to achieve the peace and reunification in Korea, expected since the armistice of 1953, the US must cease de facto obstruction to the peace, security and reunification of the Korean peninsula, and stop all hostile action, including military exercises that threaten North Korea on an ongoing basis. The US must also transform the unstable armistice agreement into a permanent and solid peace treaty and take steps as quickly as possible to withdraw its troops completely from South Korea.
In accordance with the spirit of the agreements concluded at the various inter-Korean summits, such as the North-South joint communiqué of July 4, 1972, the North-South joint declaration of June 15, 2000, the Panmunjom declaration of April 27, 2018 and the Pyongyang joint statement of September 19, 2018, South Korean authorities must renounce all hostile policies towards North Korea and end the crackdown in South Korea against the peace and reunification movement and against the progressive popular movement under NSL. The South Korean government must guarantee the right of peoples to self-determination, and thus reject any interference by the US in Korean internal affairs that prevents the improvement of inter-Korean relations and the peaceful reunification of the peninsula. Korean.
Peace cannot be established and reunification cannot be achieved in Korea as long as the NSL exists. It is imperative to restore to the Korean people the fullness of their rights as proclaimed by international law.
3. The IADL calls for an immediate end to all repressions against the pro-reunification movement in Korea under the NSL that degrades inter-Korean relations, violates the most fundamental principles of the law on individual freedoms and public rights and human rights, and is by nature contrary to the very foundation of democracy; in December 2020, Mrs. Kim Ryon-hee, a resident of the South who came from North Korea and who wanted to return there, was accused of having violated the NSL
; in April 2021, the South Korean headquarters of the Pan-Korean Reunification Alliance (BomMinRyon), which leads the movement to withdraw US bases and reunify Korea under a federal system, was charged with violating national security law
; in May 2021, a publishing house that published the autobiography of a North Korean leader, devoted to the resistance movement he led during the period of the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945), was searched and investigated for alleged violations of the National Security Act.
4. The IADL has always paid attention to the repressive role played by the NSL in South Korea, especially since the South Korean Constitutional Court’s decision in December 2014 to dissolve the United Progressive Party suspected of having violated said law. The IADL is attentive to the fact that the United Nations and the various international organizations responsible for human rights issues, as well as the Universal Periodic Review working group of the United Nations Human Rights Council, have repeatedly recommended the amendment or repeal of the National Security Law, in particular Article 7, out of concern for human rights violations in South Korea, because the said law is contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights conventions. We, IADL, call loud and clear for the complete abolition of the National Security Law in South Korea, which is the main obstacle to peace and reunification on the Korean peninsula.
20 June, 2020
International Association of Democratic Lawyers
