A victim who served a prison sentence in the 1980s on espionage charges was acquitted in a retrial opened 45 years later by the person's granddaughter.
According to legal sources on the 8th, the Criminal Division 4-1 of the Busan District Court overturned the original ruling and acquitted the late Park Gi-hong in a retrial on charges of violating the National Security Act.
From June 1978 to January 1981, the deceased was accused of making 10 statements to acquaintances related to North Korea. The person allegedly said, "To remove the 38th parallel and achieve unification, U.S. troops must withdraw," "In North Korea, you can study as long as you have ability," and "If you go to North Korea, you can receive education free of charge."
Police arrested the deceased in January 1981 and handed the person over to the National Security Planning Agency, and the court sentenced the person to two years in prison in June that year.
However, in this appeal trial the court acquitted the deceased on the grounds that it would be difficult to prove the espionage charges.
The bench ruled, "Considering the materials investigated as a whole, some of the evidence against the defendant is inadmissible," and "Even taking the remaining evidence together, the defendant's conduct does not constitute a violation of the National Security Act."
This retrial was initiated by the deceased's granddaughter. After seeing individuals in Jeju who had faced espionage charges receive acquittals, she applied in 2023 to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for fact-finding. In June 2024, the commission acknowledged the possibility of coerced investigation and human rights violations and recommended a retrial.