2024-02-16 08:34:00
The defendants in the ‘Chungbuk Dong Branch’ case, who were suspected of violating the National Security Act, were sentenced to heavy sentences in the first trial on the 16th. It has been 883 days since he was indicted in September 2021. This is more than four times the average processing time (203 days) for all cases in the criminal first trial settlement division of Cheongju District Court, which is handling this case.
Members of the Chungbuk Dong Branch are entering the Cheongju District Court to examine the warrant in 2021. /News 1
On this day, the 11th Criminal Division of the Cheongju District Court (Presiding Judge Seung-ju Kim) sentenced Chungbuk Dong Branch advisor Mr. Park (60), Vice Chairman Mr. Yoon (53), and Chairman Mr. Son (50) to 12 years in prison and detained them in court. Mr. Park and others are suspected of forming an underground organization under orders from North Korean agents since 2017, attempting to recruit regarding 60 people in the North Chungcheong region, and engaging in various acts detrimental to security, including detecting state secrets.
The court said, “The fact that Mr. Park contacted a North Korean agent in China, the fact that Mr. Yoon received a North Korean command, the fact that the three formed the Chungbuk Dong Branch, the fact that they received a North Korean command and delivered a report to North Korea, and the fact that they received 20,000 operative funds from North Korea. “The fact that dollars were received is acknowledged,” he said. At the same time, he said, “(The defendants) received money and valuables from North Korean members, and met and communicated,” and “They received orders from North Korea, collected domestic information, and wrote a report.”
The court said, “Such crimes violate the existence and stability of the Republic of Korea and the existence of the liberal democratic system. “The crime was committed in a meticulous and secretive manner over a long period of time,” he said, but the reason for the sentencing was that “the value of the information collected by the defendants was not that great, and the only people they recruited were their (defendants’) families.”
In addition, the court spent a considerable amount of time at the beginning of the trial today to explain the reason for the delay in the first trial of this case. The court said, “We should have proceeded with other cases while proceeding with this case,” and added, “So far, our court has completed the first trial of 487 people and the second trial of 743 people.” “In order for trials to proceed quickly, court manpower and resources must be replenished,” he said. “They say there is a shortage of doctors recently, but what is really lacking is the number of judges.”
He continued, “The expiration of the detention period in the first trial is only six months. “Important cases cannot be completed within six months,” he said. “Our country is the only country that does not extend the detention period. “I think the National Assembly should quickly revise the law,” he said.
They denied the indictment, saying that the evidence submitted by the prosecution before and following the trial was fabricated and that it was an illegal investigation conducted through illegal surveillance by the National Intelligence Service and others. When the court sentenced him to prison, Mr. Yoon said, “It is unacceptable for the Republic of Korea to be sentenced to 12 years in prison for violating the National Security Act in 2024,” and “The National Security Act must be abolished.”
The three defendants who were sentenced to heavy sentences on this day held a press conference in front of the Cheongju District Court before appearing in court and claimed that they were ‘victims of 30 years of surveillance.’ They said, “The National Intelligence Service and the prosecution already created a case in 2000 and attempted illegal surveillance and manipulation for over 20 years, and only completed the manipulation in 2021.” “I became an accomplice to manipulation,” he said.
Meanwhile, so far, the defendants in this case have filed a total of five applications to evade judges, halting the trial for a total of 11 months. Additionally, on the 14th, two days before the sentencing, the defendants requested special procedures from the United Nations for ‘suspension of trial’ and ‘asylum support’. It is said that this request is virtually impossible to realize because the United Nations does not have the authority to intervene in the trials of a specific country. The legal community reacted by saying, “Severe punishment has been imposed on those who violated the National Security Act who used various legal techniques to delay the trial.”
There are a total of four defendants in this case. Three of them were sentenced to prison on this day, and the remaining defendant, Ms. Park (female, 53), a liaison, is being tried separately. Ms. Park belatedly filed a separate application to recuse herself from the judge in October of last year, and as the judgment on this was made late, only Ms. Park’s trial was separated from hers. A separate trial for Ms. Park will be held on the 21st, and her sentencing is expected to come as early as next month.
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