South mulling whether to fly North flag during Asiad

South mulling whether to fly North flag during Asiad

Yoo Jae-suk, Associated Press, Seoul

South Korean officials are jubilant that North Korea will send
athletes to the Asian Games. But they're nonplussed about whether
games organizers should fly the North Korean flag, a crime in the
South.

Another dilemma is whether to play the North Korean national
anthem at the quadrennial event in the port city of Busan. That
would also violate the National Security Law, a key tool of South
Korea's anti-communist, military-backed governments during the
Cold War.

South Korea is a democracy now, and eager to welcome North
Korean athletes as part of efforts to promote reconciliation on
the divided peninsula. But the law is still on the books, and
conservative lawmakers have stalled efforts by President Kim Dae-
jung to reform it.

"If North Korea had ever allowed a South Korean flag to fly on
its soil, we should allow it. But they never did, so why should
we?" Chang Moon-young, a 70-year-old South Korean, said Thursday.

South Korean officials are mulling over what to do about the
flag and anthem of a communist country that invaded the South in
1950, and dispatched armed infiltrators for decades afterward.

"This is a very complex issue. We must consider relations with
the North as well as our legal system and public sentiment," said
Kang Jong-seok, an official at South Korea's Unification
Ministry, which handles policy toward the North.

Ministry officials are consulting with the Justice Ministry
and the National Intelligence Service, Kang said. Under the
National Security Law, praise for or open sympathy with anti-
state groups can lead to a maximum of seven years in prison.

During the 1980s, leftists in South Korea were often
prosecuted for alleged pro-North Korean activities. These days,
there are far fewer leftist activists and the security law is not
widely enforced.

In talks with South Korea last weekend, North Korea agreed to
send a delegation to the 14th Asian Games on Sept. 29-Oct. 14.
North Korea has until now shunned international sports events
hosted by the South, including the 1988 Olympic Games and the
soccer World Cup in June.

The two Koreas are also scheduled to hold Cabinet-level talks
in Seoul next week in a sign that their reconciliation process is
getting back on track after months of tension. The United States
and North Korea are also moving toward talks.

As Asian Games organizers await a government decision on the
flag, all but one of the flags of the 43 Olympic Committee of
Asia nations fly in front of their headquarters in Busan. The
North's flag of red, white and blue with a red star in the middle
is missing.

"If the North actually participates, we have to respect it as
a member. But the decision is up to the government," said Choi
Hyung-ju of the event's organizing committee.

South Korea expects the North to send about 200 athletes and
officials to the Asian Games to compete in 20 events, including
gymnastics, judo, wrestling and soccer.

North Korea has not yet submitted a list of athletes. The
deadline is Aug. 30.