North Korea’s ‘government in exile’: who is the group dedicated to ‘restoring light to Pyongyang’?
- Little is known about CCD and it is unclear who is behind the organisation – although some have speculated it has links to South Korea’s spy agency
- The group emerged in 2017 when it said it had guaranteed the safety of Kim Han-sol, the son of Kim Jong-nam, who was murdered
In a lengthy statement posted on its website in both Korean and English on Friday – the 100th anniversary of a Korean movement against Japanese colonial rule – the group announced itself as a provisional government for the North called “Free Joseon”. Joseon is an old name for Korea.
“We dedicate ourselves completely to the abolition of this great evil, a stain on the very soul of humanity,” it said in a statement, saying it will continue its campaign until “the day that light is truly restored to Pyongyang”.
It claimed to be “the sole legitimate representative of the Korean people of the north”, adding: “Joseon must and shall be free. Arise! Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves!”
The group posted a video of a woman – dressed in an old-fashioned black and white hanbok and her face blurred or only showing her back – reading out the statement in front of a traditional Korean pavilion in a field.
