Defector Hwang: How many N. Korea spies in Japan?
By Edward Neilan
North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yop would know details of Pyongyang operations in Tokyo and the impact of Chongryon remittances. Will South Korea share results of its interrogation of Hwang with Japan?
TOKYO (JP): Here's another question which must be asked of Hwang Jang-yop, the high-ranking North Korean who courageously defected to South Korea, delayed by way of Manila due to political idiosyncrasies in Beijing. After clarifying his earlier assertion that "there are 50,000 North Korean spies in South Korea" would Hwang kindly respond to this two-parter:
"Sir, first, how many North Korean spies of any shape or description are presently working in Japan?"
"Second part, what are the true monthly and annual figures of remittances to North Korea from Korean residents in Japan, and are those amounts significant in preventing the collapse of the Pyongyang regime?"
As former head of the International Department of the Korean Workers' (Communist) Party and a frequent visitor to Japan, Hwang would know the answers to those questions. If we could get direct answers from him, there would be a reason to "replate" page-one of morning dailies.
In the first place, Seoul political circles are understandably concerned about the Hwang list of 50,000 North Korean spies deeply entrenched in South Korean society, many in key positions the defector claims.
South Korean intelligence agents will have first crack at the list. There is speculation that it may contain names of both ruling party and opposition lawmakers in Seoul. In this respect, careless handling of such information -- including use for political purposes -- could lead to fulfillment of predictions that the Hwang defection case may cause more political instability in Seoul than in Pyongyang.
The information needs to be read and analyzed swiftly, for Hwang is of the opinion that the hour is late. "North Korea now seems to believe that, as the only way out, it must use its formidable armed forces it has built up for decades," he said upon arrival in South Korea on April 20.
He said "North Korea has turned into an international beggar. Its economy is sliding into complete paralysis. (People) have long since lost all hope" in the North Korean regime.
Hwang said he decided to defect to help stop a second Korean war from breaking out on the Korean Peninsula. He urged North Korea to abandon its militaristic approach and adopt openness to prevent widespread starvation of its people.
Hwang represents a storehouse of information about many confidential and sensitive aspects of the North Korean regime, including a suspected nuclear program, capable of producing bombs.
Because of his high rank (24th in the hierarchy at the time of his defection) and the fact that he was once tutor of leader Kim Jong-il, Hwang, 74, is believed to be privy to some of the innermost secrets of the Pyongyang regime. He fled to the South Korean consulate in Beijing Feb. 12 on his way home from an international seminar in Japan. China asked the Philippines to allow Hwang to travel there first in order to avoid offending North Korea, its longtime ally, by going directly to Seoul.
A few skeptics in Western intelligence circles still feel Hwang could be a "plant" or "double agent," a ploy which North Korea has used on several occasions in the past to sow confusion. But South Korea discounts this and insists he is the genuine article.
Besides the notorious Hwang list, Hwang would also know details of North Korea's intelligence operations in Japan. Among the some 600,000 Korean residents in Japan, 200,000 is the figure given that tilts toward North Korea. Nearly that number may be members of the Chosen, expressed in Korean as Chongryun, the North Korea Resident's Association.
The Chongryun functions as a virtual North Korean embassy in Japan, since there are no formal diplomatic ties.
How many of its staff and members are performing espionage duties for Pyongyang?
Hwang could answer those questions, as well as shedding light on how significant the multimillion dollar equivalent in funds sent to North Korea is, sent each month by relatives and sympathetic businesses run by Koreans in Japan. Many of Japan's ubiquitous pachinko parlors are acknowledged by Japanese police to be run by Chongryun members, since banking records trace the trail of remittances to Pyongyang.
Some Japanese experts on North Korea claim that the Pyongyang regime could collapse sooner than later if these remittances were cut off. Japan is placed in the delicate position of refusing to allow large shipments of rice as food aid to North Korea through nongovernmental agencies (NGOs), although remittances to North Korea are allowed to continue.