SEOUL
A Korean-American woman was questioned by Seoul police Sunday after being accused of making pro-North Korea comments during a series of public appearances.
Shin Eun-mi, 53, told reporters prior to the questioning that she blamed the media for blowing things out of proportion, South Korea’s national news agency reported.
"The media have paid no regard to my true feelings and have hurt me a great deal by giving false accounts," Yonhap quoted her as saying.
Shin, author of a book on North Korea, is accused by local civic groups of repeatedly showing sympathy toward the North’s regime in recent weeks while touring the country with former South Korean opposition party spokesperson Hwang Sun.
According to 19 groups representing North Korean defectors, the pair defamed them when they claimed that up to 90 percent of refugees from the North want to return home.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is investigating whether any of their remarks broke the National Security Law of South Korea -- where even praising North Korea is considered an “anti-state” activity.
She wrote of her experiences travelling with her husband in North Korea between 2011 and 2012 – something South Korean citizens are banned from doing without permission.
"I have given lectures at churches and colleges on the same topic, and I talked about the same issues in my book,” she said Sunday, expressing her confusion about why her talk shows were dubbed pro-Pyongyang.
"I think I should be punished if I have violated the law here but I have never once thought I have broken the National Security Law,” she added, according to Yonhap. “I feel like I've been betrayed by my mother country that I've loved."
Earlier on Sunday, police arrested an 18-year-old student accused of throwing a homemade acid bomb on to the stage during Shin’s most recent forum Wednesday in the southern province of North Jeolla.
Shin blamed the incident on the "the irrational and senseless situation" of the times.
"I am a middle-aged woman who dreams of a peaceful Korean Peninsula where the South and the North, and Koreans from overseas can all love each other," Yonhap quoted her as saying. ”I think it's my privilege [as an overseas Korean] to be able to travel to both Koreas and serve as the bridge between them."
Shin had temporarily been banned from leaving South Korea following claims that she planned to return to the U.S., having already ignored an initial police summons.
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