LEGALLY KOREAN – Inside Korea’s Legal Landscape
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — A South Korean court on Tuesday overturned the decades-old conviction of a 72-year-old man who was imprisoned during the military regime for possessing Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital,” ruling that his prior confession had been coerced.
The Seoul Southern District Court acquitted Jeong Jin-tae, who was a student at Seoul National University when he was arrested in 1983 under the National Security Act for holding what authorities then deemed pro-North Korean materials.
He was sentenced to three years in prison after what he described as torture, threats and forced confession throughout the investigation and trial.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded in April that Jeong had been illegally detained and pressured into a false admission. The retrial court accepted those findings, saying the books Jeong possessed did not threaten national security or support North Korean activity.
Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital” (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/CCL)
“There is no evidence to prove a crime,” Judge Kim Gil-ho said in the ruling. “The defendant is acquitted.”
Speaking outside the courthouse, Jeong said the conviction had cost him a stable career and forced him into hardship for 40 years. “I finally feel I am recognized as a real citizen of the Republic of Korea,” he said.
Jeong’s attorney, Choi Jeong-gyu, criticized prosecutors for opposing the acquittal and said the case underscores the need for accountability in past state abuses. The defense plans to file for state compensation based on the ruling.
Jerry M. Kim (jerry_kim@koreabizwire.com)
And what about the people who tortured him? Why is no-one prosecuting them and sending them to jail? In Europe Nazis are still now at over 90yrs old being prosecuted and sent to jail…All the crooked Korean cops, torturers, regime-puppet judges: have them stand trial and punish them, only then has justice been done.