Surprise Picket Protest in Front of North Korean Permanent Mission in Manhattan
It has been revealed that North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong, upon returning after concluding his UN speech, was confronted by a face-to-face protest by defector artist Ma Young-ae.
On the 27th, after finishing his speech at the UN Headquarters, Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong encountered Ma Young-ae, the representative of the North Korean Defectors’ Missionary Association in America, who was waiting in front of the North Korean Permanent Mission office that afternoon. Representative Ma Young-ae stated, “I was in front of the North Korean Permanent Mission from 6 PM, and around 6:50 PM, I saw Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong walking. I held up the picket I had prepared high.”
Representative Ma Young-ae revealed, “As soon as his eyes met mine, he lowered his head and avoided eye contact, then hastily entered the North Korean Permanent Mission under the protection of his bodyguards. Two people, including a Japanese TV reporter, filmed this scene.”
Representative Ma Young-ae is well-known for her ‘Face-to-Face Protest of Terror,’ which targets high-ranking officials, including the North Korean Permanent Representative. This is because she startles her targets by waving pickets and shouting slogans directly in front of them. Moreover, it is also embarrassing when such scenes are filmed and spread worldwide. For this reason, North Korean officials often avoid Representative Ma Young-ae or sometimes even flee, but each time she pursues them with a picket and shouts slogans, earning her the reputation as ‘Public Enemy No. 1’ among North Korean officials due to her ‘tick-like’ protests.
Former North Korean Ambassador Sin Son-ho became a “victim” of face-to-face protests three times between 2009 and 2012, and in February last year, newly appointed Ambassador Ja Song-nam also received a harsh “initiation ceremony” from Representative Ma Young-ae upon returning from his first day of work.
In Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong’s case, he experiences the “misfortune” of encountering Representative Ma Young-ae every time he comes to New York. This year, on his third visit to New York as Foreign Minister, following his visits in March and September last year, he inevitably encountered her again. Representative Ma Young-ae has carried out a total of 10 face-to-face protests, including surprise demonstrations in front of the North Korean Permanent Mission last month and early this month.
However, on this day, she remained silent and only held a picket protest. On the picket, the phrase ‘Kim Jong-un, immediately abandon nuclear weapons that threaten the international community and dismantle political prison camps!’ was written in both Korean and English.
Representative Ma Young-ae stated, “Since coming to the U.S. in 2004, I have held over 400 protests against North Korea, but this is the first time it has been so tense. The security was so tight that the protest itself was a great success.”
This year’s 70th UN General Assembly, with the first attendance of Pope Francis and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Putin participating after 10 years, has the highest level of security in history due to more heads of state from major countries attending than ever before.
Representative Ma Young-ae stated, “There were so many uniformed and plainclothes police, Secret Service, and agents who appeared to be from the CIA in front of the North Korean Permanent Mission that I broke out in a cold sweat. Two plainclothes agents checked my ID and ran a background check on the spot, then said, ‘It’s fine. There’s no problem protesting in front of the building,’ which made me sigh with relief.”
Representative Ma said, “Perhaps word got out that I was there, as people who arrived afterward clearly showed caution, avoiding me. Normally, I would have shouted slogans loudly, but I thought there was no need to startle the hardworking security personnel.”
She expressed with satisfaction, “Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong must have seen the content of the picket. Today’s protest was intended to convey the message to North Korea and the international community to abandon nuclear weapons and dismantle political prison camps, and it fully achieved its purpose.”
It was reported that a welcoming event for Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong was held at the North Korean Permanent Mission on this day. Approximately 20 individuals, appearing to be members of pro-North Korean organizations, were seen entering to attend the event.
Earlier, in his UN General Assembly speech, Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong claimed that “to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs) adopted by the UN, it is necessary to create a peaceful and sustainable development environment,” and argued that it would be difficult for the UN to achieve its development goals as long as actions like U.S. sanctions against North Korea are condoned.
