[Photo] Victim of fabricated “spy” charges declared innocent over 40 years later

Korean-Japanese Kim Seung-hyo, 68, was apprehended by the South Korean Central Intelligence Agency (now the National Intelligence Service) in 1974. He was tortured and accused of being a spy. Unable to withstand the pain of torture, he “confessed” to being a spy. In 1975, the Supreme Court sentenced him to 12 years for violating laws of national security. After serving his sentence, Kim returned to Japan but continued to suffer from post-traumatic stress. In 2015, he filed for a retrial. On Aug. 23, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office recommended that the courts declare Kim innocent. Kim’s life story was the subject of the documentary film Spy Nation (2016).