CINA

본문

S. KOREA MUST ABOLISH

NATIONAL"SECUTITY"LAW!! (*)

Following was reported in the latest editions of SK newspapers:

Politicians held for contacting North's agent (JoongAng Ilbo)
Democratic Labor Party deputy among 5 persons now in custody

Seoul prosecutors and the National Intelligence Service said yesterday they had arrested a senior official of the Democratic Labor Party on charges of contacting a North Korean agent during a visit to China.
 
His arrest and that of one other suspect were a significant enlargement of an investigation into 1980s-era student activists. So far, at least five people, including incumbent and former officials of the left-wing political party, are in the prosecution's sights.

Sources at the prosecution said the five could eventually be charged with espionage, but it appears that the authorities do not yet have sufficient evidence to accuse them formally of that crime. For the present, those in custody have been charged with unauthorized contacts with a North Korean.

Investigators from the Seoul Central District Public Prosecutors Office and the intelligence agency raided the home of Lee Jeong-hun, a former central committee member of the Democratic Labor Party, on Tuesday and detained him for alleged violations of the National Security Law. Yesterday, the prosecution said it had applied for warrants to extend his detention and to keep two other activists arrested at the same time, Jang Min-ho and Sohn Jong-mok, in custody. Prosecutors said all three visited China in March for meetings with a North Korean agent. Mr. Sohn and Mr. Jang also allegedly traveled to North Korea via China without South Korean government authorization.

Yesterday, the investigation widened with the arrest of Choi Gi-yeong, deputy secretary general of the Democratic Labor Party, and another activist. They were also charged with contacting a North Korean agent in China.

"We obtained the arrest warrants early in the morning and took Mr. Choi into custody at his home," Ahn Chang-ho, a prosecutor in charge of the case, said yesterday. "The National Intelligence Service is currently questioning Mr. Choi."
The pair allegedly accompanied Mr. Lee when he contacted the North Korean spy, the prosecution said, adding that the investigation would focus on the possibility that they had received instructions from the agent and engaged in "anti-government activities" after returning to this country. Such activities would also support an espionage charge.

Mr. Jang, a 44-year-old game developer and former student activist, was accused of working under the North's orders for more than a decade. After dropping out of Sung Kyun Kwan University in Seoul during his sophomore year, prosecutors said, he went to the United States and was a pro-North Korean activist there. Officials added that he is believed to have visited North Korea three times since the mid-1980s.

During the raid at Mr. Jang's home, investigators reportedly seized documents with instructions on how to contact and report to a North Korean agent. The prosecution said Mr. Jang admitted to some of the charges and waived his right to a court hearing on a detention warrant.
 
The Seoul Central District Court heard the cases for warrants yesterday against Mr. Lee and Mr. Sohn. Mr. Lee contended he was in China on business and had received no instructions from North Korean agents. "This is a Roh administration conspiracy to suppress civic movements and to create instability," he complained.
 
Mr. Lee, a history graduate of Korea University, was a well-known student activist. He was arrested in 1985 for leading the occupation of American Cultural Center in central Seoul. He was also convicted in 2000 of trying to enter North Korea by sea.
 
The Democratic Labor Party complained in a statement yesterday that the arrests were "clear political oppression" of the party. It demanded the release of all those arrested, accused the spy agency of fabricating evidence in a conspiracy to maintain its influence and demanded the repeal of the National Security Law.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200610/26/200610262221584239900090209021.html

About the same case the "left"-liberal daily Hankyoreh wrote following article:

3 arrested for allegedly meeting N.K. agent in China

Korea Herald published this:

Probe of pro-N.K. activists widens

In K. Times it's the "top" story:

Spy Scandal Shakes Labor Party

Dong-A Ilbo:

Activists Arrested for North Contacts

And last but not least the extreme conservative Chosun Ilbo:

Prominent 386ers Help for Espionage

* ..but unfortunately, even likely the majority(??) of the S. Koreans is against N"S"L, there is - (just) in my opinion - no real mass movement to struggle against N"S"L.

PS:

Already 4 years ago I finished one of my articles about N"S"L (on Base21, the former English section of Jinbonet) like that: "Last weekend around 450 people protested against the NSL. This in a city with over 10 million inhabitants, in a country with nearly 50 million citizens. If this is the beginning of a movement it could be good. But if this is the whole movement, in 50 years we'll still have the lovely NSL."("The struggle against the National Security Law needs a peoples' movement").