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
The 13th World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) was held from 1–8 July 1989 in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, and was organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth. It was the largest international event staged in North K ...
, 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 Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung, his death in 1994. Aside ...
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 led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...
in 1989, without first obtaining travel permission from the
South Korean government
The government of South Korea () is the national 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 ...
. 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 leftist student organization in South Korea. It ...
. Upon her return to South Korea, she was arrested and sentenced to twelve years in prison, later commuted to five years of which she served three.
Visit to North Korea
In 1989, Lim (then a 4th year student majoring in French at
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (abbreviated as HUFS; ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul, South Korea. The university currently teaches 45 foreign languages. In addition, it contains studies in humanities, law, ...
) famously visited North Korea to attend the
13th World Festival of Youth and Students
The 13th World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) was held from 1–8 July 1989 in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, and was organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth. It was the largest international event staged in North K ...
as the one-person delegation of the . Initially, the league was denied permission to send a delegation by South Korean authorities (the
Roh Tae-woo
Roh Tae-woo (, ; 4 December 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean army general and politician who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. In 1987, he became the first president to be directly elected under the cur ...
administration). Undeterred, the league tasked a student group particularly known for its international connections, , 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 lasted 45 days and culminated in meeting President
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 led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...
.
Lim crossed the
Korean Demilitarized Zone
The Korean Demilitarized Zone () is a heavily militarized strip of land running across the Korea, Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in half. It wa ...
(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
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
. 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, activist and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003.
Kim entered politics as a member of the new wing of the Democratic Pa ...
. 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).
Democratic United Party
The Democratic Party (DP; ), formerly the Democratic United Party (DUP; ) until 2013, was a Liberalism in South Korea, liberal political party in South Korea, and for the duration of its existence the country's main opposition force.
On 15 De ...
'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 (, born 26 April 1968) is a South Korean activist and politician who is currently a member of National Assembly representing the 1st constituency of Haeundae District, Busan. He has served as Vice President of the Bareun Party, a ...
as a "son-of-a-bitch betrayer" and another as a "traitor" in what was described by ''
Korea JoongAng Daily
''Korea JoongAng Daily'' () is the English edition of the South Korean national daily newspaper '' JoongAng Ilbo''. The newspaper was first published on October 17, 2000, as ''JoongAng Ilbo English Edition''. It mainly carries news and feature ...
'' as "an alcohol-fueled tirade at a
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
restaurant", questioning their legitimacy to challenge her as a lawmaker. This led to public protests.
The
Argentinian
Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
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 meetings 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
The Argentine Film Critics Association () is an organization of Argentine-based journalism, journalists and correspondents. The association presents the ''Silver Condor Awards'' (''Premios Cóndor de Plata'') honoring achievements in Argentina, Ar ...
Télam
Télam (an acronym for "Telenoticiosa Americana") was an Argentine government-ran national news agency founded in 1945 by then Secretary of Labor Juan Perón''Juche'' faction, the South Korean political faction advocating ''
Juche
''Juche'', officially the ''Juche'' idea, is a component of Ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea#Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism, Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism, the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party o ...
''
* Pomchonghakryon, the North Korean organization roughly equivalent to Hanchongryun
*
Korean reunification
Korean reunification is the hypothetical unification of North Korea and South Korea into a singular Korean sovereign state. The process towards reunification of the peninsula while still maintaining two opposing regimes was started by the Ju ...
*
Politics of South Korea
The politics of South Korea take place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is the head of state, and of a multi-party system. To ensure a separation of powers, the government of th ...
*
South Korean defectors
After the Korean War, 333 South Korean people detained in North Korea as prisoners of war chose to stay in North Korea. During subsequent decades of the Cold War, some people of South Korean origin defected to North Korea as well. They include ...
*
386 Generation
The 386 Generation () is the generation of South Koreans born in the 1960s who were very active politically as young adults, and instrumental in the democracy movement of the 1980s. The 386 Generation takes a critical view of the United States and ...