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A district court has sentenced five former student activists accused of spying for North Korea to between four and nine years in prison. The court found them guilty of espionage but acquitted them of forming an organization ¡°benefiting the enemy.¡±
The Seoul Central District Court on Monday sentenced Jang Min-ho (45), also known as Michael Jang, to nine years in prison and fined him W19 million (US$1=W932). Jang had been charged with contacting North Korean agents after organizing a spy ring dubbed "Ilsimhoe." The court also sentenced Lee Jung-hoon (44) and Son Jung-mok (43), who had been arrested alongside Jang, to six years in prison; Lee Jin-gang (44) to five years; and Choi Ki-young (40) to four. Lee Jung-hoon and Choi are former senior members of the Democratic Labor Party.
The court found Jang arranged for the other accused to meet with North Korean agents in secret and sent domestic political information in prearranged codes to North Korea. ¡°Lee and the others gave information to Jang despite knowing of his connection with North Korea. It is, therefore, unavoidable to inflict severe punishment on them in light of the secrecy with which they committed the crime and the danger they posed,¡± the bench said. But the court acquitted them of the charge that they had formed an organization ¡°benefiting the enemy¡± under the National Security Law. "The purpose of the organization may appear to benefit the enemy. Nevertheless, it cannot be termed an organization actually benefiting the enemy considering that it had only four initial members, each of whom engaged in activities separately without a founding ceremony." Out of the total of 55 counts the court found them guilty on 21 counts, but acquitted them on 34.
Prosecutors vowed to appeal, saying it is precisely because members made only one-on-one contact under Jang's supervision and junior members were shut off from each other so they had no idea who the other junior members were that ¡°Ilsimhoe¡± was clearly an organization benefiting the enemy. They added the court also defined passing of state secrets ¡°too strictly.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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