"Freedom of Thought and Academic Inquiry"... Man in His 70s Acquitted in Retrial for Possessing "Das Kapital" 40 Years Ago

Jeong Jin-tae, 72, who was illegally detained for possessing Karl Marx's "Das Kapital," has been acquitted in a retrial.

On October 28, Judge Kim Gilho of the Seoul Southern District Court, Criminal Division 14, delivered a not-guilty verdict to Jeong in the retrial for violation of the National Security Act.

Judge Kim stated, "During the search and seizure of the defendant's residence, judicial police officers illegally detained him without a warrant and conducted an investigation for one month without a warrant until an arrest warrant was issued. The seized items and seizure records were also collected in violation of the warrant requirement under the Criminal Procedure Act, so their admissibility as evidence cannot be recognized."

He further explained, "Not only 'Das Kapital' but also other works by Karl Marx are officially published and studied in Korea, and it is difficult to view the contents of these books as actively supporting North Korean activities or as posing a real threat to the existence, security, or liberal democratic order of the state under the National Security Act. Freedom of thought and academic inquiry are fundamental rights in a democracy and should be recognized as broadly as possible. It appears that the defendant possessed and read these books out of a desire for democracy." He added, "There is no basis to consider the books as subversive materials or to conclude that the defendant had any intent to engage in activities for an anti-state organization."

After the trial, Jeong commented, "I have lived for more than 40 years under the stigma of being a criminal, but now I finally feel like an official citizen of the Republic of Korea. Many people have suffered under Article 7, Paragraph 5 of the National Security Act, and I hope they will soon have the opportunity to clear their names as well."

In February 1983, Jeong, then a student at Seoul National University, was arrested on charges of possessing subversive materials and was subsequently sentenced to three years in prison.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded in April that Jeong had been interrogated while illegally detained and was forced to make a false confession.