A South Korean man received a suspended 10-month prison term Wednesday for resending North Korean propaganda posts from his Twitter account.
The man, Park Jung-geun, 24, a photographer and an activist for social media and freedom of speech, was arrested in January on charges of violating South Korea’s controversial National Security Law, which bans “praising, encouraging or propagandizing” for North Korea but does not clearly define what constitutes such acts. He was later released on bail.
Mr. Park was accused of resending 100 posts from an official North Korean Twitter account until late last year, including one that said “Long Live Kim Jong-il!” After Mr. Kim, the long-time North Korean dictator, died last December, Mr. Park also wrote on his Twitter account that he wanted to send North Korea “uranium and plutonium” as a show of condolence. He also uploaded Web links to North Korean propaganda songs.
Mr. Park denied praising the North Korean government and said his intention was to lampoon the North Korean regime.
In a North Korean post that he tweaked and sent out on Twitter, he replaced a swarthy North Korean soldier’s face with a downcast version of his own and the soldier’s rifle with a bottle of whisky.
In his ruling, the presiding judge, Shin Jin-woo, acknowledged that some of Mr. Park’s posts were parody. But he said Mr. Park’s overall acts were tantamount to “supporting and joining forces with an anti-state entity.” The justice said his court suspended the prison term, however, because Mr. Park promised not to repeat his act.
Prosecutors argued that Mr. Park’s Twitter posts served as a dangerous tool for spreading North Korean propaganda.
“The National Security Law is interpreted too broadly, so it is abused to suppress the freedom of expression in the name of national security,” Mr. Park said by phone after the ruling. He said he planned to appeal the verdict.
Many Twitter users criticized the ruling. One said: “The message is that if you babble on Twitter carelessly, you can end up in prison.”
The United Nations and human-rights groups have called on South Korea for years to repeal or revise the law, which the country’s past military dictators had used not only against people suspected of being spies but also against political dissidents. But the law has proved resilient in a society where many fear North Korea, which has launched military provocations against the South in recent years.
The South Korean government under the conservative president, Lee Myung-bak, “increasingly invoked the National Security Law to restrict freedom of expression, particularly in the context of discussions pertaining to North Korea,” Amnesty International said in its 2012 annual report, citing Mr. Park’s case and a sharp rise in the number of websites censored by the government for fear of threatening national security. “The authorities closely monitored the Internet and social-networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.”
South Korea still blocks its citizens’ access to North Korean websites, though North Korea has recently found a way to penetrate the firewalls by using Twitter accounts.
The Twitter account whose posts Mr. Park forwarded is run by the North Korean government website, Uriminzokkiri, which the South Korean news media regularly cite in their reports.
Its just seems so weird watching the North Korean people mourn. Its like they are playing out or acting out their loss with the video footage shown on the news. Its like they can mourn, cry a ‘certain’ way which is just strange watching it from a western point of view.
I know people mourn different ways and this is just propaganda in this country but that was just weird.
what are your thought?
No I am not trying to start a communist revolution. Here’s why I want one. For my drama class, I am supposed to play a corrupted dictator who suppresses his countries people and I thought that a North Korean uniform would look good with the type of person I’m acting as.
BESIDES NORTH KOREA PEOPLE!
If North Korean refugees attempt to esacpe North Korea from all the suffering, chaos, and brutality, and the NK traveled over seas on a boat and made it to Japan, I know China will send then back to NK, and South Korea will keep and protect them and help them start a new life. But what would Japan’s govt do with them?
Anne Coulter has written that liberals support North Korean.
Ive heard that the North Korean missiles can reach Alaska. I assume they then can reach Alaskas biggest city, Anchorage? Or?
I know this will never happen, but let’s say Japan launches a preemptive massive air attack against the North Koreans, destroying their suppsed nuclear facility and major military targets, but do not target civilian facilities.
What would the world reactions be towards the Japanese government?
How is one to proceed if he wishes to find a suitable North Korean girl for marriage?
Additional Details:
The man is a Canadian citizen of Caucasian descent.
Current location is Seoul, South Korea.
Wow wow wow, let’s not be hasty now.
You mean I get rejected by every girl in Canada, but in North Korea the government is on my side??? …
… The system works!!!
Apparently they have no access to anything from the outside world, even the books and TV shows, every single one of them, is about that crazy Jong guy and his family. Can you imagine that? Can you believe this crap is seriously going on? So do any of the North Koreans know what’s really going on? I find it hard to believe that many people can be kept in the dark like this, hasn’t anyone ever tried to escape?
im talkin about the nuke the north koreans tried to lauch but just fell into the sea. was that supposed to hit the US? if so than wat area?
I’m doing a project for school on the North Korean missile crisis, and one of the aspects we have to examine is possible solutions for the conflict. I’m currently at a loss for what to write… Any ideas?
Also, in your opinion, should the US keep troops in South Korea?
What about keeping US troops in South Korea? Do you think its a necessary precaution or just a waste of funds in an already weak economy?
I know a few North Koreans.. very few. 2 specifically.. and they are really nice people. But the average North Korean is horribly impoverished. Why should we starve innocent children to death by cutting off their trade? Why not take the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and send them to do the same thing we did in Iraq? Namely, pull down a fake statue?
I saw the sports physicians spray something on the North Korean goalie at about 90 minutes into the game against the Ivory Coast team. Any ideas??
What would happen if the South Korean Navy sank a North Korean Navy ship?
Let’s say it wandered into South Korean waters.
Can anyone tell me how much the korean citizens know about the national team playing in the world cup?
What will the players and coaches do when they return to the country? in their eyes they are the best country in the world but surely they wont think this when they get home.
I take i there wont be any north korean fans their either unless they escaped the county
Any thoughts would be much appreciated!
My friend believes the North Korean educational system is better than the US system, I believe it. I read that the US system is the lower than any other developed country.
Is it true that North Korean defectors caught by Chinese authorities are deported back to North Korea and so why?
And If successful land in South Korea they easily get a citizenship? why or why not?
Why don’t Chinese authorities send just send them to South Korea so that they won’t be executed?
If you (A US citizen) were caught plotting the downfall of the North Korean government and were ready to go through with the plan, first to try to spread discrepancy through the people, then proceed to kill Kim Jong-Un and other major government figures, and then supply enough of the people with knowledge and weapons to take over and either institute a new democratic government or become part of South Korea, would their be a criminal penalty? Or would that be a matter for the United Nations’ Courts in the Hague?
The men were climbing a tree and had imagined themselves safe when the North Koreans came out of nowhere and beat them to death. I think there were pictures. When did this happen and was the USA able to retaliate at all?
The U.S.S. Pueblo was defenseless against the 1968 North Korean attack and capture. The crew suffered unimaginable and the United States was embarrassed. What kind of ship should they have put in that role to be able to ward off any normal threats?
If a Destroyer would have been sufficient why didn’t the navy command recognize this and use one for them spying? Privy to the most secret intel reports why didn’t they realize how dangerous and hostile the North koreans were?
In China they send NK defectors back, South Korea will protect them, Japan will send them to SK. But If North Korean defectors were caught in Russia. what would Russia’s govt do with them?
I am doing a group project and am trying to find an answer to North Korean visitation and travel within North Korea.
Let’s say the Japanese self defense force shot down a North Korean missile over the sea of Japan, out of the North Korean boundaries.
Don’t know if it can be done, but will it not be a good message to them that our technology is much superior to theirs?
Since the North Korean football team lost at the world cup they had to return home. In the newspapers there was a short article about a trainer of the team who immersed because he was afraid of punishment and it also said that the punishment for losing in the world cup will be work in the coal mines…
So does anybody know if something happened to them?
I remember somewhere that there was a documentary about this group of people that help North Koreans escape , give them a new identity maybe fake and encounter like Chinese guards along the way, Does anyone know the name of it? I think there’s an interview with the North Korean people too.
in such an embarrassing defeat, what will Kim Jong II do with the North Korean team for the failure and embarrassment, will he spare their lives or will it be bad?
Its amazing to see north korean people mourning the death of their leader. If the north koreans loved Kim Jong Il so much then how can any logic prove that he was truly a dictator ?
What would happen if some crazy US Soldier or group of soldiers were to shoot a bunch of North Korean soldiers at the south Korean/ north Korean border? Or vice versa? Would the north Koreans retaliate even though the soldiers went a-wall ? Or vice versa
It is assumed that a North Korean ship covered enriched uranium or plutonium and can you find out it simply ?
How is it handled internationally if discovered?
The people of North Korea are starving and abused and no one seems to care. The North Korean regime does anything it wants because it can. History tells us that any agreement they sign is rejected when they feel like it. I know there is no oil in North Korea, so they are not high on the U. S. list of concerns… is it hopeless?
I was watching a documentary and they had a private school for party member kids only. If they were communist they would not regard these kids as superior and would have there kids mixed in with all the other North Korean school children.
Do you think Japan used Mothra surreptitiously to send the recent North Korean missile into the ocean?
And will they do it again, if Mothra agrees to it?
I just need to know the basics of North Korean government, like what kind of government they have and stuff. If someone could just explain it really simply and briefly, in understandable terms, that would be great! thanks so much!
Do you think North Koreans truly belive in the almighty power of Kim Jong-ll,The Dear Leader? Or do you think that North Koreans generally know that their goverment is a scam, But are afraid to speak out?
I wish someone would hack the North Korean TV systems and play kpop music videos all day, and South Korean dramas
Would that cause North Korea to attack South Korea though because it’d seem like a conspiracy? Or would the people stop that from happening?
I know it sounds stupid, but North Korea is a communist country and they don’t allow people to leave. So, how are the North Korean soccer players participating in the world cup?
I wasn’t taught this in school. I just know. And plus, it’s not a matter of believing rumors and the media; N Korea not letting it’s people leave is the truth.
And yeah, thanks for clarifying the process of boarding a plane. It was really helpful.
Ordinary north koreans are not allowed to talk to strangers / foreignrers in North Korea. I wonder if North Korean athletes currently competing in the Olympic Games are allowed to mix with athletes from country or are they being watched iby government officials all the time, do they even have freedom to move around, say the Olympic Village or even venture into Beijing for sightseeing on their own. Does anyone know what happen to these athletes when the go abroad to compete ?
I’m just a bit curious, if I were to wear a t-shirt with the North Korean flag or North Korea on it to school in the US, and were not to do anything provoking, what would the administration do in response? I don’t believe it violates any dress code procedure after all.
1 The Korean and Japanese have been traditional enemies.
2. An attack on America’s ally Japan is just as much, if not more effective than an attack on South Korea..
3. North Korean missiles can not yet reach US targets, even in Hawaii or Alaska, but can certainly reach Japan.
4. The North wants to reunite the entire Korean Peninsular. Nuking the south won’t make the south very friendly to the north and will be left with nuclear radiation.
.
And,
5. South Korea is preparing for a war with North Korea, but Japan is not.
Do you think that North Korea will back down from testing nuclear weapons?
How will the US act when more threats are being made by testing nuclear weapons and propaganda videos?
What will Canada’s stand be on this? How will this effect our daily lives?
During the Cold war, drills for bombs were done at schools.
What will be the economic out come? Political outcome? Environmental outcome? Social outcome?
Just like Russia threatening us that “they have nuclear weapons” and having their submarine sail really close to us, North Korea is straining our relationship with them, does is have to do with us cutting off the food supply cause they launched a new satellite?
I just seen on the news North Korea army told the U.S army to be warn they are coming for the U.S and to drop a Nuclear missile on us. If it did happen would a war break out if it really happened. Or would our Military be watching for them and stop them?
Also, are North Korea planning on attacking UK?
Who is on US side and who is on North Koreas side?
It doesn’t usually take much to get the U.S.A involved in a war and North Korea are literally laughing at the rest of the world at the moment.
If a war was to start who would win?? I’ve heard North Korea have over 1 million soldiers.
And who else would get involved?? I hope Britain doesn’t we have got no need to.