A group of five people, including a Korean-American businessman living in Seoul, were indicted Friday on charges of spying for North Korea, prosecutors said.
The five, which include two members of South Korea's left-leaning Democratic Labor Party, were uncovered by the National Intelligence Service two months ago. They were all members of an underground pro-Pyongyang circle called "Ilsimhoe," which literally means "one mind" in Korean. The name refers to an organization unified in the hope of achieving inter-Korean reunification, prosecutors said.
The group is alleged to have provided confidential information to North Korea in violation of the anti-communist National Security Law, prosecutors said as they announced an interim report on the probe. The suspects were additionally charged with meeting North Korean spies in China and illegally entering Pyongyang.
Prosecutors say the group's leader Jang Min-ho, an American national, gained membership in North Korea's Workers' Party when he first visited Pyongyang in 1989. He is believed to have organized Ilsimhoe with the initial three members in 2002 under directions from Pyongyang.
The 44-year-old Jang has since met with North Korean spy operatives five times in Beijing and twice in Bangkok, and has received US$16,500 from North Korea since the 1989 visit, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also said the group delivered secret information to Pyongyang under direct or e-mail directives from a North Korean spy operative. The information provided was mostly collected from political parties and major government offices, they said.
The five have also allegedly formed several similar pro-Pyongyang organizations in the Democratic Labor Party and progressive civic groups and attempted to use the sensitive issues of a free trade agreement with the United States and the planned relocation of U.S. troops to the south of Seoul in stirring up anti-American sentiment among South Koreans.
Prosecutors said they will have the NIS continue investigating other figures with suspicious ties to Jang and the case. However, the spy case is expected to trigger heated debates in trials as most of the suspects deny the charges.
Seoul, Nov. 8 (Yonhap News)
Five people indicted on espionage charges |
