Hwang’s death puts leftists in dilemma

As South Korea mourns the death of Hwang Jang-yop, a top North Korean defector, its left-leaning politicians are finding themselves in an awkward position, given their strained relationship with the deceased. 

While politicians from the right-wing Grand National Party showed up in sequence at the mortuary where Hwang’s body is kept soon after his death Sunday, the liberal opposition Democratic Party hesitated for days, agonizing over whether or not to pay tributes to him. 

On Tuesday afternoon, the DP sent a delegation headed by floor leader Rep. Park Jie-won. Its chairman Sohn Hak-kyu, however, will not visit his altar in person, party officials said. 

“There were pros and cons,” a party insider was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as saying.

“While some said we should pay respects to Hwang as he lived such a tragic life as a victim of the division of the two Koreas, others urged caution, insisting that such an act could have an impact on relations with North Korea in the future,” the official said. 

Rep. Chung Jung-bae, a member of the DP’s top decision-making Supreme Council, said, “Hwang can be seen as a victim of the division of the Korean Peninsula, but I don’t think (he was someone who) the party should consider paying its formal tribute to.” 

Former President Kim Young-sam pays tribute to the late North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yop at a Seoul hospital Tuesday. (Joint Press Corps)