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Court shortens former trade union leader's sentence for North Korean spying

Published: 15 May. 2025, 22:18

Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) rally outside the union headquarters in central Seoul to protest investigators raiding the union's office on Jan. 18, 2023. [NEWS1]

A former senior official of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), convicted of espionage for North Korea, had his sentence reduced on Thursday after a court found insufficient evidence that he had successfully leaked national secrets.

The Suwon High Court sentenced 54-year-old Seok, a former director of the KCTU’s Organization and Struggle Bureau, to nine years and six months in prison with an equal period of suspended civil rights. Seok was previously sentenced to 15 years in prison in a lower court.

The appeals court also handed a three-year prison term with suspended rights to Kim, 50, a former organizing director at the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union. Kim had received seven years in the initial ruling. Two other defendants — Yang, 56, a former vice chairman of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union, and Shin, 52, head of a “peace shelter” in Jeju — were acquitted.

All four were indicted in May 2024 on charges of violating the National Security Act. Prosecutors alleged that Seok received instructions from North Korean agents between 2017 and 2022, disguised his espionage activities as union work and met with operatives in China and Cambodia.

The prosecution said Seok gathered intelligence on the KCTU’s internal political factions, including leadership elections, and sensitive military data about U.S. installations in Pyeongtaek and Osan, Gyeonggi. More than 100 classified documents, including five loyalty pledges to North Korea, were allegedly sent north.

Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) walk toward their office in central Seoul after the police raid the building on Jan. 18, 2023. [NEWS1]

Prosecutors claimed that Seok, under the guidance of the Cultural Exchange Bureau of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party — a known arm of Pyongyang’s intelligence operations — formed an underground network dubbed “Jisa” and attempted to recruit KCTU officials from its headquarters and regional chapters. At the final hearing in April, prosecutors sought a 20-year prison sentence for Seok and lesser sentences for the others.

In the ruling, the court acknowledged Seok's espionage as a “serious offense that undermines national security and the democratic order.” However, it found insufficient evidence to prove the existence of a structured underground group within the KCTU or that national secrets had been successfully relayed to North Korean agents.

The court found Kim guilty but noted that he was not a central actor in the plot and had attempted to sever contact with North Korea for more than a year. Yang was acquitted due to a lack of evidence directly linking him to espionage activities. The court determined that Seok had acted alone in arranging meetings with North Korean agents and that Yang had not been informed in advance.

For Yang, the court said, “Though there is suspicion, there is insufficient objective evidence to confirm that he was involved in North Korean directives.” It concluded that Seok had acted alone in arranging contact with the agents without prior knowledge or participation from Yang.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY CHOI MO-RAN [[email protected]]