Lim Su-kyung (also spelled Lim Soo-kyung; ; born 6 November 1968) is a South Korean activist and politician. She is best known for attending the

13th World Festival of Youth and Students In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...

, held in North Korea and praising

President of North Korea The president of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea () was the head of state of North Korea from 1972 to 1998. The position was only occupied by Kim Il-sung from 1972 until his death in 1994. Aside from being president, Kim was also the ...

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

in 1989, without first obtaining travel permission from the

South Korean government The Government of South Korea is the union government of the Republic of Korea, created by the Constitution of South Korea as the executive, legislative and judicial authority of the republic. The president acts as the head of state and is the ...

. She attended the festival representing the student organization Jeondaehyop (), now known as

Hanchongryun Hanchongnyon (Hanguk Daehak Chonghaksaenghoi ryonhap), also known as the Confederation of Korean Students’ Union or the South Korean Federation of University Students Councils, is a pro-North Korea North Korea, officially the Democrati ...

. Upon her return to South Korea, she was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison.

Visit to North Korea

In 1989, Lim (then was at 4th year student majoring in French at

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (abbreviated as HUFS; Korean: 한국외국어대학교) is a private research university based in Seoul, in South Korea. HUFS consistently ranks as one of the best universities in South Korea. The university ...

) famously visited North Korea to attend the

as the one-person delegation of the League of South Korean University Students. Initially, the league was denied permission to send a delegation by South Korean authorities (

Roh Tae-woo Roh Tae-woo (; ; 4 December 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. Roh was a close ally and friend of Chun Doo-hwan, the predecessor leader ...

administration). Undeterred, the league tasked a student group particularly known for its international connections, Korean Student Christian Federation, with making the visit possible, and so Lim got involved. She was not a student leader but more of a "messenger". An itinerary was carefully planned to get her into North Korea without attracting the attention of South Korean intelligence. She traveled for 10 days to reach the North via Japan and Germany. Her stay there took 45 days and culminated in meeting President

. Lim crossed the

Korean Demilitarized Zone The Korean Demilitarized Zone ( Korean: ; Hanbando Bimujang Jidae) is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in ...

(DMZ) back into South Korea on 15 August 1989. She was the first civilian from either of the two Koreas to openly do so since the end of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. She was arrested on charges of violating the National Security Act. Some of her student associates were arrested as well. Lim was initially sentenced to prison for 12 years, which was later commuted to five. She ended up serving only three years and was released under a special amnesty. She was pardoned in 1999 by South Korean President

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democracy and human ...

. Lim claims that her attendance at the Festival was a purely selfless act. Lim's legacy took two separate trajectories in South Korea, where her reputation was tarnished as she was seen to have embarrassed her country's authorities, and in the North, where she is considered a hero. In the South, she is considered one of the most controversial visitors to the North. In the North, Lim was given the nickname ''Flower of Unification'' or ''Flower of Reunification'' () by the North Korean government. She was also made the subject of the documentary '' Hail Lim Su-kyung, the Flower of Unification'' (1989).

Political career

In April 2012, she was elected to the

19th National Assembly 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full r ...

as the

Democratic United Party The Democratic Party (; DP), formerly the Democratic United Party (; DUP) until 2013, was a liberal political party in South Korea, and for the duration of its existence the country's main opposition force. On 15 December 2011, the Democrati ...

's 21st proportional representative. In June 2012, in a confrontation with a North Korean defector in a bar, Lim hurled insults and referred to

ruling party The ruling party or governing party in a democratic parliamentary or presidential system is the political party or coalition holding a majority of elected positions in a parliament, in the case of parliamentary systems, or holding the executive ...

lawmaker

Ha Tae-keung Ha Tae-keung ( Korean: 하태경, born 26 April 1968) is South Korean activist and politician who is currently a member of National Assembly representing the 1st constituency of Haeundae District in Busan. He has served as Vice President of the ...

(하태경) as a "son-of-a-bitch betrayer" and another as a "traitor" in what was described by '' Korea JoongAng Daily'' as "an alcohol-fueled tirade at a

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

restaurant", questioning their legitimacy to challenge her as a lawmaker. This led to public protests. The

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

filmmaker José Luis García made the 2012 documentary ''La chica del sur'' ("The Girl From the South") on Lim and his experience at the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students, where he met her. The film shows Lim's struggle for a reunified Korea in 1989, and two further reunions between her and Garcia in South Korea and Argentina in 2012. ''La chica del sur'' tries to show the development of her thoughts and character after years of media attention, prison, the tragic death of her son and divorce. It was shown and awarded in the Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival (BAFICI) 2012 and Lakino festival 2013. In 2014, the documentary received the Argentine Film Critics Association Silver Condor (''Cóndor de Plata'') for Best Documentary."Wakolda" won seven awards and dominated the Silver Condor night

Télam Télam is the Argentine national news agency founded in 1945. It provides news and information to about 300 subscribers, including government entities and national and international media. It operates as a state enterprise. Overview Télam was ...

References

Citations

Sources

* *

External links