Prosecution Charges Park Sang-hak with Attempted Violation of Inter-Korean Relations Development Act for Distributing Anti-North Korea Leaflets

Park Sang-hak, Representative of the Free North Korea Movement Alliance. [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The prosecution has indicted Park Sang-hak, the head of the Free North Korea Movement Alliance, who distributed leaflets to North Korea last April.

According to the legal community on the 28th, the Public Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Choi Chang-min) indicted Park on the 26th without detention on charges of attempted violation of the Act on the Development of Inter-Korean Relations.

Park is accused of sending leaflets, booklets, and US one-dollar bills attached to 10 large balloons in two separate instances last April from areas adjacent to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do to North Korean territory.

Article 24, Paragraph 1 of the Act on the Development of Inter-Korean Relations, revised in December 2020 and enforced from March this year, prohibits acts that cause harm or serious danger to the life or body of citizens through ▲ loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea near the Military Demarcation Line ▲ posting visual media (notices) toward North Korea near the Military Demarcation Line ▲ and leaflet distribution.

Article 25, Paragraph 1 of the same law stipulates punishment of imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won for violators. Paragraph 2 also provides for punishment of attempted offenses.

The prosecution judged that Park’s actions did not cause harm or serious danger to the life or body of citizens and therefore applied charges of attempted violation.

Park was also accused of distributing leaflets to North Korea in 2020, but he was not prosecuted as the revised Act on the Development of Inter-Korean Relations, known as the 'Anti-Leaflet Law,' had not yet been enforced at that time.

Park has been on trial since December last year on charges of violating the Act on the Collection and Use of Donations, with the first trial verdict scheduled for March 8.