[Choice Times=Ji-Hyun Park, Senior Fellow, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy (CAPS), U.K.-based North Korean defector]

In 2020, the Moon Jae-in administration pushed through the so-calledAnti–North Korea Leaflet Lawdespite concerns from the international community. The law blocked the activities of defector groups seeking to deliver outside information to North Korean residents. The international community immediately pushed back, citing violations of freedom of expression and the right to access information.

The South Korean government responded by saying, “Stop interfering in our internal affairs and undermining peace on the Korean Peninsula.” This was the same rebuttal routinely used by countries with poor human-rights records—North Korea, China, Russia, Iran, Ethiopia—when faced with international criticism. It was the first time South Korea invoked “non-interference in internal affairs” as a shield against human-rights scrutiny.

The law itself was riddled with flaws. In forcing together provisions that were difficult to apply in practice, the result was a structure that was legally vulnerable and open to rebuttal. While the stated justification was the safety of residents in border areas, the reality was a law that suppressed the freedom of expression of South Korean citizens and cut off North Korean residents’ right to know.

It banned the distribution or transfer of leaflets, USB drives, radios, and other items containing outside information, and imposed penalties of up to three years in prison for violations.

In 2023, the Constitutional Court ruled the law unconstitutional. But at the time, we failed to fight properly. We could have dismantled the law point by point, exposing its legal flaws, but our voices were buried under political momentum and the wall of public opinion.

Now, the Lee Jae-myung administration is effectively inheriting that law. The structure that suppresses freedom of expression remains intact, and the issue of North Korean human rights is once again being ignored. The right of North Korean residents to know, the testimonies of defectors, and solidarity in the name of freedom are being pushed into ever-narrower cracks.

With those who undermine freedom now seated in the National Assembly, the road toward totalitarianism is no longer an abstract concern—it is reality.

Totalitarianism is not simply politics that crushes opponents. It is terror inflicted upon a population that has already been conquered—a system that eradicates spontaneity and individuality and turns people into puppets. A society where people cannot utter a single word even when confronted with blatant falsehoods—that is the true horror of totalitarianism.

Watching South Korean citizens express gratitude after being swayed by “coupons,” I am reminded of North Koreans who wept with joy over one kilogram of candy and snacks.

Totalitarianism is not about ruling people; it is about rendering them useless. Because spontaneity makes resistance possible, totalitarian systems relentlessly strip people of individuality. A system in which only those who do not think can survive—that is totalitarianism.

Even if facial recognition becomes mandatory just to open a mobile phone account, most citizens will remain indifferent. That is a refusal to resist by choice—and it is no different from the North Korean system.

Therefore, we must think voluntarily and be able to distinguish right from wrong. If people fail to recognize their own worth and dignity, dictators will treat them like stones, scarecrows, or no more valuable than horses or dogs.

The reason conservatives are losing ground to the left is their indifference to human rights. The left and dictators alike know that human rights are the most powerful Achilles’ heel. That is why they control them, distort them, and sometimes weaponize them.

At their core, the National Security Act and the Anti–North Korea Leaflet Law are human-rights laws. The left seeks to abolish them, while the right fails to defend them.

Election fraud is also a matter of human-rights abuse, but those who raise the issue view it only through a political lens and miss the fundamental human value of human rights, which prevents the message from reaching the public. The greatest problem is that they do not fight in the language of human rights.

The point at which we must confront dictators and the left is precisely their weakest spot: human rights. That is the weapon dictators fear most, and it is the starting point for South Korea to reclaim its freedom.

#HumanRights #FreedomOfExpression #Totalitarianism