Wrongfully convicted fishermen acquitted after 56 years
Published: 25 Jun. 2025, 16:47
Updated: 26 Jun. 2025, 02:24
![An image of a statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice [KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/26/cdd5defe-1b54-4ab2-910f-e3c3a6889970.jpg)
An image of a statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice [KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]
A court in Incheon acquitted four South Korean fishers, who were abducted by North Korea in 1967, of breaching the National Security Act, Anti-Communism Act and the Fisheries Act on Wednesday, 56 years after their original sentencing.
Prosecutors had accused the four men — including 83-year-old Sim, the only surviving defendant, and three others, born between 1931 and 1934, who have since died — of crossing the maritime boundary while fishing for sharks off Baengnyeong Island, near the northernmost point of the Yellow Sea, on Oct. 12, 1967.
They were convicted of entering North Korean waters in February 1969. Three of the defendants, including Sim, received one-year prison sentences suspended for two years, along with a one-year suspension of civil rights. The fourth was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, and a corresponding rights suspension.
In October 2024, Sim and the children of the deceased defendants filed for a retrial, claiming the original verdicts were unjust.
In the retrial, the court concluded that the fishers had been abducted by a North Korean patrol boat under threat of gunfire and held for 67 days. Evidence presented showed the original crew of 20 had been fishing in five separate boats when the incident occurred.
“The defendants’ confessions were obtained while they were illegally detained by investigators, rendering them inadmissible,” the presiding judge said. “After being held in North Korea for an extended period, the defendants were likely in a physically and psychologically vulnerable state upon their return.”
The judge also emphasized that one crew member had died just four days after his interrogation. “His body was covered in bruises, and locals thought he had tattoos,” according to his family.
“The remaining evidence, excluding the inadmissible confessions, is insufficient to prove the defendants willfully defected to the North or crossed the fishing boundary for illegal operations,” the court ruled, declaring the men not guilty.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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