After multiple rescue requests concerning fishermen who were forcibly abducted by North Korea, those later punished under the Anti-Communist Law have finally been declared innocent after 50 years and will receive criminal compensation from the state.
On Thursday, legal sources reported that the Suncheon branch of the Gwangju District Court recently announced a decision on criminal compensation for Mr. A (82) and the family of the late Mr. B, along with eight others, who were acquitted of charges related to violations of the National Security Law in South Korea.
The state will pay a total of 65 million KRW (about 47,000 USD) in criminal compensation and legal costs.
In 1973, Mr. A and Mr. B were sentenced by the Supreme Court to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 2-year probation and a 3-year disqualification for violating the Anti-Communist Law and the National Security Law.
The fishermen were abducted by North Korea on the evening of August 29, 1971, after departing from a port in Gangwon Province and heading north to fish.
According to reports from the Gangneung and Goseong police stations at the time, the vessel carrying Mr. A and Mr. B was towed away by a North Korean patrol boat following a prolonged standoff. They sent multiple distress signals to the South Korean police, informing them of their abduction and requesting rescue.
However, before South Korean authorities could arrive, they were captured under the threat of gunfire from the North Korean patrol boat.
Upon their eventual return, they were met not with relief but with investigators. Mr. A and Mr. B were illegally arrested and detained by South Korean authorities.
At that time, investigators claimed that those who returned to South Korea had crossed both the fishing exclusion line and the military demarcation line, encountered a North Korean patrol boat, and fled into an area controlled by an anti-state organization, leading to their prosecution.
In October 2023, the families of Mr. A and Mr. B filed for a retrial. The Suncheon branch of the Gwangju District Court, presided over by Judge Kim Yong-gyu, decided to initiate the retrial and acquitted them on November 5 of last year.
The court stated that the defendants appear to have taken every action possible as South Korean citizens to avoid abduction and cannot be seen as having defected voluntarily.
Furthermore, the court emphasized that the defendants were illegally arrested and detained before any warrants were issued. Further noting that statements made under such unlawful circumstances lack evidentiary value. The court asserted that the charges associated with the guilty verdicts fall under cases where there is no evidence of a crime.
The retrial concluded with an acquittal, and the prosecution did not appeal. On July 16, the court accepted the criminal compensation claims filed by Mr. A and the other petitioners.