A law intended to fight against communist subversion, used to repress the protest movements

Introduction by the military regime

The law of national security was founded in 1948 in South Korea, to fight against the communist ideology of the rival mode North-Korean.

One year after its adoption, 200.000 people had been stopped in South Korea for infringement with the law of national security.

The law of national security prohibits in particular the South-Koreans from coming into contact with the North-Koreans without governmental authorization.

" Because of the big leeway of interpretation which it authorizes, the law of national security was often used as pretext to repress any repression protestor, even if this one raised sometimes more democratic claims that of a claim of the ideology communiste" .

the maintenance of the law in spite of the easing of its application since 1998

The law of national security remains in force in South Korea in spite of its easing after the come to power of Kim Dae-jung in 1998. With this date, marking the fiftieth birthday of the promulgation of the law, of the defense organizations of the human rights - in particular Amnesty International - had asked her abrogation.

In a ratio of 1999, Amnesty International raised that " nearly 400 people was stopped under the mode of the Law of national security in 1998, of which political students, militants, trade unionists, editors, religious personalities and even of the Net surfers. The majority of these prisoners did not have anything fact which deserves their arrest and their imprisonment and they were stopped for the only non-violent exercise their rights to freedom of expression and of association " (source).

December 18th, 2004, 10.000 people took part in one taken care of the torches of Seoul to ask for the abolition of the law of national security (source: ).

The arrest on October 26th, 2006 of five people, whose assistant general secretary of the Democratic party of the work of Korea, for espionage with the profit of the North Korea, caused a polemic in South Korea: if the conservative daily Chosun Ilbo interpreted this arrest like the “greater scandal of espionage since decades”, it is about “the Korean version, in 2006, of the Maccarthysme”, according to the liberal daily newspaper Dong-A Ilbo (see the article of the daily newspaper " Monde" reproduced with the following address).

Political tendencies

Source.

According to the article first of the law which defines of them the objectives, the law of national security has as an aim to remove the anti-State activities which endanger the national security and to ensure the safety of the nation, the freedom of the people and freedom .

Article 2 defines as " groups; anti-Etat" international national organizations or or the groups whose intention is to carry out or to facilitate actions of infiltration of the government or to involve disorders for the nation .

Defined in articles 3 and 4, the sanctions include the Capital punishment and of the one two years minimum duration custodial sentences. " the last execution goes back to 1998 "

Article 7 lays down sorrows up to seven years of prison for those which call with or encourage the co-operation with anti-State groups endangering the national security. It was " often used to hold people having left-wing ideas, particularly those are the ideas and the political opinions in connection with the Réunification of Korea are regarded as identical or similar to those of the communist North Korea " (Amnesty International source).

Sources and references

Sources

• Eric BIDET, South Korea. Social economy and civil society , Harmattan/Innoval, 2003, p. 137.
• complete Text of the Law of national security in English (nonofficial translation)

References