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omonatheydidBy Lee Hyo-sik
The prosecution’s arrest of a 23-year-old man for reposting dozens of pro-North Korean messages via his Twitter account is igniting debate over the extent of freedom of expression.
Prosecutors argue that Park Jeong-keun is a North Korean sympathizer who retweeted about 100 messages posted on the communist regime’s Twitter account. Park has been detained and indicted on charges of violating the National Security Law which bans people from sympathizing or cooperating with the North. However, Park’s lawyer says it was no more than a simple prank, insisting his constitutional right to freedom of expression has been encroached upon. The lawyer said the prosecution interpreted the law arbitrarily to take extremely harsh steps against the accused.
According to the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, Park, the owner of a photo printing shop in Seoul, copied a total of 96 postings from the Twitter account of “Uriminjokkiri,” the communist state’s propaganda website from December 2010. He retweeted the messages to other individuals via the popular social networking service (SNS). He was also found to have uploaded 34 messages on various websites glorifying North Korean leaders and praising the communist regime.
Park was detained and indicted on Jan. 31 for violating the National Security Law. Under the law, South Koreans cannot view pro-North Korea information on-and off-line. Those who distribute and promote pro-North material are prosecuted. According to the prosecution, he wrote and posted a message on his Twitter account on Dec. 15, 2011, which read “Dear leader, give us an order. We will take all possible measures to kick American imperialists out of this land.” Following the North’s shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010, he also uploaded a posting that read “Seoul does not have its own culture. The city should turn into a sea of fire and be wiped off the map.”
However, his lawyer argues that Park’s retweeting and Internet postings were designed to ridicule the North Korea’s political and social system. He cited some of Park’s Twitter messages, one of which read: “Kim Jong-un was not conceived through sex. He was created like lactic acid bacteria.” The lawyer said Park was not aware that disseminating pro-North messages to others on Twitter was illegal, stressing the prosecution’s move to physically detain him was too harsh.
In August last year, a 44-year-old man surnamed Kim was indicted on charges of spreading about 30 pro-North messages posted on “Uriminjokkiri.” But Kim was not arrested.
“There is no clear guideline concerning whether or not to physically detain those who relay pro-North messages via SNS. But if they do so to spread unfounded rumors on purpose, they will be immediately put behind bars and face investigation,” a prosecution official said. “In Park’s case, many of his messages were indeed sarcastic and intended to make fun of North Korean leaders and the regime.”
But the official said Park had to be detained and subject to punishment, given that he made too many postings and uploaded 80 out of 130 messages even after the prosecution launched its investigation.
This is tricky tbh.
Was the State compelled to charge him: yes. There is a law which the state has to apply.
Should they charge him? That's basically "is this law "good"" and that's the tricky part imo.
And regarding the guys defense : "The lawyer said Park was not aware that disseminating pro-North messages to others on Twitter was illegal"... "Nemo censetur legem ignorare" is all I have to say.
Source: Koreatimes
The prosecution’s arrest of a 23-year-old man for reposting dozens of pro-North Korean messages via his Twitter account is igniting debate over the extent of freedom of expression.
Prosecutors argue that Park Jeong-keun is a North Korean sympathizer who retweeted about 100 messages posted on the communist regime’s Twitter account. Park has been detained and indicted on charges of violating the National Security Law which bans people from sympathizing or cooperating with the North. However, Park’s lawyer says it was no more than a simple prank, insisting his constitutional right to freedom of expression has been encroached upon. The lawyer said the prosecution interpreted the law arbitrarily to take extremely harsh steps against the accused.
According to the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, Park, the owner of a photo printing shop in Seoul, copied a total of 96 postings from the Twitter account of “Uriminjokkiri,” the communist state’s propaganda website from December 2010. He retweeted the messages to other individuals via the popular social networking service (SNS). He was also found to have uploaded 34 messages on various websites glorifying North Korean leaders and praising the communist regime.
Park was detained and indicted on Jan. 31 for violating the National Security Law. Under the law, South Koreans cannot view pro-North Korea information on-and off-line. Those who distribute and promote pro-North material are prosecuted. According to the prosecution, he wrote and posted a message on his Twitter account on Dec. 15, 2011, which read “Dear leader, give us an order. We will take all possible measures to kick American imperialists out of this land.” Following the North’s shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010, he also uploaded a posting that read “Seoul does not have its own culture. The city should turn into a sea of fire and be wiped off the map.”
However, his lawyer argues that Park’s retweeting and Internet postings were designed to ridicule the North Korea’s political and social system. He cited some of Park’s Twitter messages, one of which read: “Kim Jong-un was not conceived through sex. He was created like lactic acid bacteria.” The lawyer said Park was not aware that disseminating pro-North messages to others on Twitter was illegal, stressing the prosecution’s move to physically detain him was too harsh.
In August last year, a 44-year-old man surnamed Kim was indicted on charges of spreading about 30 pro-North messages posted on “Uriminjokkiri.” But Kim was not arrested.
“There is no clear guideline concerning whether or not to physically detain those who relay pro-North messages via SNS. But if they do so to spread unfounded rumors on purpose, they will be immediately put behind bars and face investigation,” a prosecution official said. “In Park’s case, many of his messages were indeed sarcastic and intended to make fun of North Korean leaders and the regime.”
But the official said Park had to be detained and subject to punishment, given that he made too many postings and uploaded 80 out of 130 messages even after the prosecution launched its investigation.
This is tricky tbh.
Was the State compelled to charge him: yes. There is a law which the state has to apply.
Should they charge him? That's basically "is this law "good"" and that's the tricky part imo.
And regarding the guys defense : "The lawyer said Park was not aware that disseminating pro-North messages to others on Twitter was illegal"... "Nemo censetur legem ignorare" is all I have to say.
Source: Koreatimes
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