A North Korean defector to South Korea had to go to court to get a passport to travel to the U.S. Why?

The [foreign] ministry had said Kim, 69, could be a target of North Korean assassination attempts during planned trips to the U.S., and the trips could cause diplomatic friction. [. . .] Kim was an aide to Hwang Jang-Yop, former secretary of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party and the highest-ranking North Korean to come to Seoul. The two defected together during a trip to Beijing in 1997.

[. . .]

“With vague concerns about his security, the government should not restrict his basic right more than it does those of ordinary citizens of the Republic of Korea,” Yonhap news agency quoted the judge as saying.

Kim applied for a passport in 2004 after receiving invitations from two US think tanks.

Asked by the ministry to conduct checks, the National Intelligence Service recommended the application be withheld until the government devises security measures for the defector and the US organizations.

The spy agency, according to the court, believed chances were high that Kim, who was under round-the-clock police protection at the time, could be assassinated if left without high-level protection in the US.

Such an incident, it said, could sour inter-Korean relations.

If North Korea assassinated the defector (in the U.S. no less), it might sour inter-Korea relations. Roh was not worred about the man, and was not worried about North Korea targeting ROK citizens; he was worried about coddling the North Korean regime.

I find this logic obscene. How about if North Korea tried to assassinate any ROK citizen, North Korea be held responsible for its actions?! Roh can’t leave office soon enough. Hopefully the damage he’s done can be repaired.