VOA, '3.1절 범국민대회' 상세하게 보도...한국언론 외면과 대조적

대부분의 국내 언론이 수많은 태극기 시민들이 결집한 '3.1절 범국민대회'를 왜곡, 축소보도한 것과 대조적으로 미국의 VOA (Voice of America, 미국의 소리)가 1일(현지시간) 이 집회를 상세하게 보도해 눈길을 끌었다. VOA는 미국 정부가 전 세계의 청취자를 향해 방송하는 국제방송으로 미국 정부의 시각을 상당부분 대변하는 매체인 것으로 알려지고 있다.

VOA는 “목요일(1일) 서울에서 있었던 대규모 집회는 문재인 대통령 퇴진을 위한 국민들의 지지를 모으고 고취시키는 자리였다”며 “이것은 마치 대규모 집회가 결국 박 대통령의 탄핵으로 이어졌던 것과 같다”고 말했다.

VOA는 3.1절 광화문에서 한국 국민들이 미국의 대북(對北) 압박 전략을 지지했다고 보도했다. 또 "북한이 작년에 미국을 타격할 수 있는 위협적인 대륙간 탄도 미사일을 실험했다"며 "평양의 지도자는 살인, 고문, 강간 등의 조직적인 인권말살을 하는 반(反)인륜적 범죄 혐의자"라고 밝혔다.

이어 김석우 전 통일원 차관의 말을 인용해 “문 대통령은 거짓된 평화 구호를 선전하려 한다. 그는 김정은의 핵무기를 용인함으로써 반인륜적 범죄의 공범역을 자처하고 있다”고 전했다.

VOA는 "3.1절 국민운동 참가자들은 도널드 트럼프 대통령의 ‘대북 최대 압박’을 강력히 지지한다"면서 이 전략이 국제적인 대북제재를 이끌어 북한의 무기개발 프로그램에 들어가는 자금줄을 끊었다고 밝혔다.

문 대통령에 대해서는 미국의 선제타격을 강하게 반대하는 사람이라고 보도했다. 그러면서 평창 올림픽에 북한을 참여하게 해 북한의 핵.미사일 실험을 ‘일시적으로’ 멈추게 했다고 밝혔다. 그리고 북한의 지도자로부터 평양에서 대화 할 수 있는 초청권을 받았다고 말했다.

그러나 VOA는 "문 대통령의 퇴출을 요구한 한국 국민들은 문 대통령이 북한 대표단에 취한 유화적인 자세에 항의하고 있다”며 “특히 김영철 같은 경우 2010년 천안함 폭침의 주범으로 지목받고 있다”고 말했다. 또한 문 대통령 퇴출을 요구하는 국민들이 “문 대통령은 북한의 핵미사일 개발과 북한 내 인권실태에 대해 강하게 맞서고 있지 않다”는 점을 지적했다고 밝혔다.

VOA는 3.1 범국민대회에서의 문재인 대통령 퇴진 요구를 설명하며, 박근혜 대통령의 실질적인 탄핵은 국회에서 박 대통령 측 국회의원들이 박 대통령의 지지율이 10 퍼센트 아래로 떨어진 후 탄핵에 찬성하는 투표를 던졌기 때문이라고 보도했다.

VOA는 문대통령이 이런 일련의 사태속에서 집권했으며, 초반에는 80 퍼센트의 지지율을 즐겼지만 최근 북한에 유순하고 호의적인 태도로 접근하는 것에 대해 국민들의 불안이 증폭되면서 지지율이 60 퍼센트 대로 떨어졌다고 전했다.

한편 박근혜 대통령의 탄핵으로 이어진 최순실과의 공모혐의에 대해서는 많은 법률 전문가들이 검찰 기소내용의 타당성을 의심하고 있다고 보도했다.

VOA는 “검찰에 따르면 140,000 페이지의 증거가 존재한다고 한다. 간접증거가 그렇게 많다는 것은 명확한 증거는 존재하지 않는다는 것을 말한다”는 이인호 중앙대 법대 교수의 말을 상세하게 인용했다.

또한 김철홍 장신대 교수의 말을 인용해 “오늘 국민운동에 참여한 많은 사람들은 검찰이 박근혜 대통령의 유죄를 밝히는데 실패했다고 믿는다”며 “박대통령을 즉시 석방할 것을 요구하고 있다” 고 밝혔다.

김민찬 기자 mkim@pennmike.com

원문:

Pro-American Rally in South Korea Denounces North Korea Appeasement

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — 

Thousands of South Korean conservatives rallied in Seoul on Thursday to protest President Moon Jae-in’s Olympic outreach to North Korea, and in support of impeached President Park Geun-hye, who faces a possible 30-year prison sentence for corruption charges related to the scandal that ousted her from office.

Moon’s opponents, many waving American flags, denounced his engagement policy to foster increased dialogue and cooperation with the North as appeasing the enemy and undermining the United States’ “maximum pressure” strategy.

“Trying to promote false peace slogans such as, no wars in Korea’” President Moon now plays an accomplice in crimes against humanity by approving nuclear weapons of Kim Jong Un,” said Kim Suk-woo, one of the rally organizers. Kim is a former vice minister of Unification and president of the National Development Institute in Seoul.

In the last year North Korea, conducted numerous threatening missile and nuclear tests to develop the capability to target the U.S. mainland with a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile. The leadership in Pyongyang also stands accused of crimes against humanity for longstanding and systematic human rights violations. A 2014 United Nations report documents a network of political prisons in North Korea and cases of state-sponsored killings, torture and rape.

Pro-Trump

The South Korean conservative protesters strongly support U.S. President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” approach that has led international efforts to impose tough sanctions to cut off funding for North Korea’s weapons program and impose economic pain, while also emphasizing the possible use of military force if sanctions fail. They also like Trump’s tough rhetoric, such as calling Kim Jong Un “rocket man.”

“Whatever the solutions, whether they are military or non-military, if the international community chooses to disarm ‘rocket man,’ we are in enthusiastic full support of this decision,” said Kim Suk-woo.

President Moon strongly opposes any U.S. preventive military action against the North that many analysts say could quickly escalate into a second Korean war that could kill millions and devastate the region.

The Moon administration has tried to improve relations with Pyongyang by facilitating its participation in the recent Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea. His sports diplomacy efforts did help bring about a temporary pause in North Korean missile and nuclear tests. It has also increased inter-Korean dialogue, and brought forth an invitation from the North Korean leader to Moon for a leaders summit soon in Pyongyang.

But Moon’s opponents at the rally object to his conciliatory treatment of the North Korean Olympic delegation, especially allowing North Korean General Kim Yong Chol, who is under sanctions for his alleged role in orchestrating a deadly attack on a South Korean warship in 2010, to lead his country’s Olympic delegation. They also criticize the South Korean leader for not strongly confronting the visiting North Korean officials about nuclear and human rights violations.

Impeachment momentum

The large demonstration in Seoul on Thursday was aimed at galvanizing public support to remove President Moon from power, as mass protests forced the impeachment of his conservative predecessor.

Thursday’s rally was the first large scale political protest in the country since President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment last year over her alleged involvement in a corruption and bribery scandal. Park was charged with colluding with her close friend Choi Soon-sil to force large Korean conglomerates like Samsung to contribute millions of dollars to two nonprofit organizations.

The Park corruption scandal triggered months of nationwide protests demanding her ouster. Many of Park’s conservative supporters in the national assembly voted for impeachment after her approval rating dropped to below 10 percent.

In the wake of the scandal, Moon and his progressive Democratic Party easily won the early presidential election in May 2017. The South Korean president enjoyed an early approval rating of more than 80 percent. But it has dropped in recent weeks to the mid 60s because of concerns over his accommodating outreach to North Korea.

Free Park

Meanwhile former President Park has been held in prison since she was forced from office last year and has been on trial for bribery, abuse of power and other charges related to her scandal.

The ex-president claims she is innocent and has refused to attend the trial. Legal experts question the strength of the prosecution’s case that has produced only circumstantial evidence linking Park to political payoffs arranged by her friend Choi.

“According the prosecution’s argument, there are 140,000 pages of evidence. The fact that there is a teeming amount of (indirect) evidence paradoxically means that there is no (clear) evidence,” said Lee In-ho, a professor of law at Chung-Ang University in Seoul.

Prosecutors this week asked the court to issue Park a 30-year sentence. The final verdict could come in the next month. Her alleged co-conspirator, Choi Soon-sil, was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Park’s supporters at Thursday’s rally complained that the former president’s trial is a case of political persecution.

“Many protesters today they believe the prosecutors have failed to prove the guilt of President Park. So they are asking for the immediate release of President Park,” said Chulhong Kim, a spokesman for the protest organizers and a professor at the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary in Seoul.

Comfort Women

President Moon did not address the protest in Seoul on Thursday, which is a holiday commemorating Korean resistance to the Japanese occupation. Instead he spoke out against Tokyo’s refusal to take further measures to resolve the comfort women issue.

Moon had declined to negate a 2015 agreement between Japan and South Korea to settle all grievances related to the thousands of women in Asia, known as “comfort women,” who were forced to work as prostitutes or sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II. The deal included a vague written apology from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and an $8 million donation to a victims fund.

Yet at the same time Moon has called on Abe to do more to satisfy criticism from comfort women and their supporters, and said South Korea would not accept the $8 million donation from Japan.

Tokyo has refused to renegotiate the comfort women agreement, and Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga described Moon’s comments as “extremely regrettable.”

https://www.voanews.com/a/pro-american-rally-south-korea/4275600.html