Chungbuk Comrades sentenced to prison

[Anchor]

The Supreme Court has confirmed prison sentences for the 'Chungbuk Comrades Association' defendants, who have been accused of violating the National Security Law by meeting with North Korean operatives abroad.

While acknowledging the risk of harming the free democratic order, the Supreme Court ruled not guilty on charges of organized crime and espionage.

This is reporter Song Geun-seop.

[Report]

A man held a press conference opposing the introduction of F35-A fighter jets at the Cheongju Air Force Base.

He is Mr. Son, the chairman of the Chungbuk Comrades Association.

From 2017 to 2020, the Chungbuk Comrades opposed the introduction of fighter jets and promoted sending unification saplings to North Korea, regularly reporting to North Korean operatives.

In return, they received tens of thousands of dollars as operational funds and were indicted in 2021 for violating the National Security Law.

They consistently denied the charges during the trial.

[Yoon OO/Deputy Chairman of Chungbuk Comrades/Feb. 2024: "The activities opposing the F-35 (fighter jets) were all public activities. But they say we did it under orders from North Korea. It’s nonsense that they pieced together."]

After three and a half years, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's sentence of two years in prison for Chairman Son, finding him guilty of violating the National Security Law.

Deputy chairman Yoon and advisor Park were also sentenced to five years in prison each.

The Supreme Court found no issues with the appellate court's ruling that they posed a risk of harming the free democratic order by infiltrating abroad and meeting with North Korean operatives and communicating with them.

However, it ruled that since there were only four of them and lacked organized structure, the charge of organized crime was not guilty.

Additionally, the Court deemed that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the information they collected was state secrets, thus ruling them not guilty of espionage as well.

Meanwhile, Park, who is separately on trial as a contact for the Chungbuk Comrades, was sentenced to 14 years in the first trial, and the appeal is ongoing.

This is KBS News, Song Geun-seop.