Truth and Reconciliation Commission Decides to Investigate 'Illegal Detention Case Violating National Security Law'

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) decided on the 19th to investigate human rights violations, including 'illegal detention for violating the National Security Act.'

Yonhap News

At the 93rd committee meeting held that day, the TRC judged the 'human rights violation cases related to the National Security Act' as serious human rights violations and decided to investigate the truth. The case involved the late Bae Mo, who was a newspaper reporter in 1968 and was arrested on charges of conspiring to form an anti-state organization after meeting with a columnist from the same newspaper involved in the Unification Revolutionary Party incident, and was punished for violating the National Security Act.

The TRC seized and examined court rulings, investigation, and trial records related to this case. As a result, it was revealed that Bae was arrested by agents of the Central Intelligence Agency on October 8, 1968, and was illegally detained for four days until an arrest warrant was issued. It was also confirmed that the investigators inflicted physical abuse and torture during the interrogation process and coerced false confessions.

The TRC recommended that the state apologize for the illegal detention and harsh treatment that occurred during the investigation process and take measures to achieve reconciliation. It also advised conducting retrials or other procedures as stipulated by the Criminal Procedure Act to restore the victim's and their family's honor and damages. In addition, the TRC proceeded with truth investigations into other human rights violation cases, including those involving fishermen abducted and returned violating the Anti-Communist Law and human rights violations related to the Sabuk incident.