National Security Law again being used in communist witch hunts

Opposition lawmaker summoned, not long after Korean American deported for pro-North Korea comments

Article 7 of the National Security Law - the article that makes it illegal to praise or support North Korea - is once again being employed in communist witch hunts. Even though the UN has recommended that the article be revoked, it is emerging once more as a tool for suppressing the freedom of thought and expression, as can be seen in the case of a recent lecture.

After first ordering the deportation of Korean-American Shin Eun-mi for speaking positively about trips to North Korea during a lecture, the prosecutors and the police summoned Lim Su-kyung, a lawmaker with the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, to come in for questioning on Jan. 15. Lim was briefly on stage during the lecture, which took place at Jogye Temple, Seoul, on Nov. 19, 2014.

Meanwhile, on Jan. 13, a court will be reviewing a request for an arrest warrant for Hwang Seon, former assistant spokesperson for the Democratic Labor Party, who is charged with organizing the event and possessing material that praises the North Korean regime.

Because of a single lecture, these three individuals, who have all visited North Korea, are the subject of an investigation. “All she did was greet the audience. We will consider how to respond to the summons,” said a member of Lim Su-kyung’s office staff.

On Jan. 9, the US State Department expressed its concern about the attitude of the South Korean government and investigating authorities in relatively strong terms. “We’re concerned that the National Security Law, as interpreted and applied in some cases, limits freedom of expression and restricts access to the internet,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said when asked about Shin Eun-mi’s deportation.

But during the New Year’s press conference on Jan. 12, South Korean President Park Geun-hye responded to a question by a reporter from the Wall Street Journal by saying, “Given the unique confrontation between North and South Korea, this is the minimum law that is required to protect the security of South Korea.”

Article 7 of the National Security Law - which defines the punishment for “any person who praises, incites or propagates the activities of an antigovernment organization, a member thereof or of the person who has received an order from it, or who acts in concert with it” - is infamous as the part of a problematic law that was used to repress democratic groups when South Korea was under dictatorship.

In 1990, the Constitutional Court concluded that the phrasing of the clause is too ambiguous and wide-ranging. “The law could even make it criminal to tell a North Korean child that they are good at singing,” the court complained.

Given the fact that North and South Korea are still technically at war, the court concluded that the article had limited constitutionality, but it ordered that the article be limited to acts that endanger the safety or survival of the state or that damaged the basic democratic order.

The following year, the National Assembly added the condition that, to be prosecuted, these activities must be done “with the knowledge of the fact that it may endanger the existence and security of the State or democratic fundamental order.”

But as a series of conservative administrations have taken power, Article 7 of the National Security Law is once again flexing its muscles. In 2008, Article 7 was only invoked in 33% of cases involving a violation of the National Security Law; by 2014, this had risen to 70%.

The prosecutors gave Shin a suspended indictment because of various comments she made at the lecture, including that “North Korean residents consider themselves truly fortunate to be living under the regime of Kim Jong-un.”

A suspended indictment means that the prosecutors conclude that the charges are valid but decide not to indict the suspect for various reasons.

In regard to why Shin was given a suspended indictment, Yun Ung-geol, second deputy director general at the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office, only said that Shin’s comments had romanticized North Korea and worked to its advantage. Yun did not say whether Shin had “endanger[ed] the existence and security of the State.”

“In order to apply this article constitutionally, a very strict analysis must be made about whether the act in question endangers the security and survival of the state. In the case of Shin, the prosecutors exercised restraint by giving her a suspended indictment, but the fact that they decided she was guilty represents an abuse of Article 7,” said Song Gi-chun, professor at the Chonbuk National University law school.

　

By Lee Kyung-mi, staff reporter

　

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