Mother of a group member found dead with no traces of robbery: police


A conservative group that has flown anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets across the border said Friday that its senior member’s mother had been killed a day earlier, and possibly by terrorists.

The group, Korea Parent Federation, cancelled its leaflet-sending event at Imjingak scheduled for Saturday, claiming she was likely to have been attacked by terrorists.

The body of the 75-year-old woman, surnamed Han, was found inside her own shop in Mia-dong, northern Seoul, by a neighbor on Thursday. Han was lying on her stomach with a wound in her head and there were bloodstains on the wall. She was the mother of the group’s director general, surnamed Choo.

“We are investigating into the possibility of murder. Given that nothing was stolen in the shop, it seems less likely to be a robbery case,” said an official at the Seoul Gangbuk Police Station.

The police presumed that a blunt weapon was used to kill the woman. They collected evidence at the scene for further laboratory investigation.

After Han’s death, the Korea Parent Federation and other groups of defectors and conservative activists suspended their plan to send some 200,000 propaganda leaflets toward the North from Imjingak, a tourism pavilion on the border village of Panmunjeom, on Saturday.

“I have called on the North to free abductees and war prisoners and fought against pro-North, leftist powers. I always had a lot of enemies in liberal and religious groups, even in conservative ones,” Choo, the son, said, adding that the police recently advised him to be careful.

“If it was a terrorist attack, it is highly likely that pro-Pyongyang activists were behind it. After the funeral service, the group will respond to the case.”

Other groups, however, cautioned against premature conclusions.

“We are open to the possibility that the death had nothing to do with the North. We are to handle the case carefully,” said a member of a defectors’ group.

A member of another conservative group also said, “Until the police investigation is completed, it is hard to conclude.”

Despite North Korea’s threat of firing directly at the South’s psychological warfare sites last week, the groups had pledged to continue flying propaganda leaflets across the border and planned to carry out the event on Saturday when the wind direction could shift north.

Wary of another military provocation by North Korea, some activists and residents expressed concerns about such a publicized event at the border village.

The leaflet-sending event has been led by Fighters for Free North Korea, a defectors’ group and the two conservatives groups Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea and Korea Parent Federation.

Since Feb. 16, the birthday of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, some 20 other groups consisting of North Korean defectors joined the event.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)