Kenneth Bae Says "The Target of Unification Is the North Korean People"...Launches Radio Broadcast to the North

Launch of the "One Korea National Coalition"
"The two-state theory for the Korean Peninsula is dangerous"

A civil society coalition, including Kenneth Bae, a Korean American missionary and head of New Korea Foundation International who was detained in North Korea for more than two years and then released, is moving to launch a radio broadcast targeting North Korea.

Bae Kenneth. Provided by Yonhap News Agency

On the 4th, 46 civil society and religious organizations, including Bae's group, held an inaugural ceremony for the "One Korea National Coalition" at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, and announced that they were launching a citizen fundraising campaign to establish the North Korea-focused radio station "Korea Link."

In a Q&A session with the media after the event, Bae said, "The subject of unification is not the North Korean government but the North Korean people," adding, "At a time when it is almost impossible to leave North Korea, unification is not just one of several options for the people; it is the only way out."

He went on to explain, "We have already secured a frequency for the radio broadcast," and added, "We plan to start with shortwave broadcasting and later expand to medium wave broadcasting as well."

Bae entered North Korea in November 2012 and was detained. In April 2013, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for what the authorities called "hostile acts against the republic." He was released in November 2014 through negotiations between North Korea and the United States and returned to South Korea.

Jang Mansoon, chairman of the Committee for the Ten Million Separated Families, who serves alongside Bae as co–standing representative of the One Korea National Coalition, expressed concern about the recently raised "two-state theory" for the Korean Peninsula. He stressed, "The two-state theory is a perception that carries the risk of institutionalizing division," and added, "Unification is not a matter of choice, but a shared responsibility that we must shoulder together before the Constitution and history."

Former Secretary General of the National Unification Advisory Council Thae Yongho also attended the inaugural ceremony and, in his congratulatory remarks, proposed, "Let us carry out a unification movement with 2030 as our target year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.