Daily NK on Ma Young-Ae
The Daily NK is clearly skeptical about Ms. Ma’s claim for asylum from South Korea:
We do know that the South Korean government does not consider the North Korean democratization movement as good, and tries interrupting the movement by taking every opportunity. However, the South Korean government does not imprison and torture activators like the past administrations. We understand Ma Young Ae could be afraid of the government, yet many activators who got even more severe threats and interruptions are firmly going their own ways. Even the people who got threaten to kill by the North Korean government continue working for the movement with courage.
I think that’s probably about right, and of course it’s only right that such a claim should be investigated and treated with healthy skepticism. On the other hand, I’d still want to know what credible information Ms. Ma has about North Korean counterintelligence activities in China. That could be a completely separate issue from asylum.
The Daily NK has a slightly different position on the South Korean government. While it is as critical of the North as most human rights organizations, when it comes to the South, it becomes more defensive of it. Just last week the editorial criticized Jay Lefkowitz for being critical of the South and not critical enough of the North. While this editorial makes a pretty good point, I suspect the Daily NK has more faith in the South in dealing with the North than most people in the field.