National Security Act. Yonhap News Archive Photo

The prosecution has requested a prison sentence for an official of an organization related to "Wangjaesan," a clandestine group that operated under North Korean directives, over 12 years after their indictment.

According to legal circles on the 20th, the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office requested a sentence of 2 years imprisonment and 3 years suspension of civil rights for Mr. A (45), the secretary-general of an organization indicted without detention on charges of praising and inciting the enemy under the National Security Act, during the final public hearing held on the 18th, presided over by Judge Kwak Yeo-san of the Criminal Division 4 of the Incheon District Court.

The prosecution also requested the court to confiscate materials deemed subversive.

A prosecution official explained the reasoning for the request, stating, "Mr. A sympathized with the activities of an anti-state organization, and he possessed a significant amount of subversive materials."

Mr. A was indicted in May 2013 on charges of actively participating in the vanguard organization, the leading force of Wangjaesan, by uploading North Korean propaganda on the organization's website and possessing approximately 130 items of subversive material containing the Juche ideology of Kim Il-sung and his son.

The prosecution had previously stated that this organization, established in 2003, acted as Wangjaesan's vanguard and was reported to North Korea. It also taught the Juche ideology to its members in conjunction with the South Korean headquarters of Pomminryon, a unification movement organization.

Further investigation by the prosecution revealed that the organization organized anti-American rallies in Incheon that echoed North Korean claims and conducted training sessions in closed retreats with the goal of "securing cadres loyal to the General."

Mr. A's trial was postponed several times after multiple constitutional review petitions were filed in 2017 regarding Articles 1 and 5 of Article 7 of the National Security Act.

Subsequently, the trial resumed after the Constitutional Court ruled these provisions constitutional in September 2023. The closing arguments were completed on the 18th, 12 years and 7 months after Mr. A's indictment.

Meanwhile, Wangjaesan, which was exposed in 2011, is known to be a clandestine organization established under directives from the 225th Bureau of the Workers' Party of Korea, North Korea's external operations department.

In July 2013, members of Wangjaesan were confirmed to have received prison sentences by the Supreme Court for transmitting domestic political trends to North Korean operatives and distributing subversive materials.