https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20251230079100004
– Kim Gyeong-seong, chairman of the North-South Sports Exchange Association, was indicted on charges of delivering a letter of praise to North Korean officials on Kim Jong-il’s birthday in February 2010 and sending a condolence wreath to the North Korean embassy in China after Kim Jong-il’s death.
– In the first trial, he was found guilty of violating the National Security Act, but in the second trial, he was found not guilty and the Supreme Court confirmed.
– The second trial court explained that Chairman Kim’s actions “”are difficult to say that it has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that there is a clear risk of harming the existence/security of the country or the basic liberal democratic order, or that the defendant had such awareness.””
– In the case of the letter of praise, it seems to be nothing more than ceremonial rhetoric in that it is a congratulatory letter and Kim Jong-il’s absolute status in North Korea.
– However, he was found guilty of paying a fine for donations in May 2013, exporting soccer shoes worth 60 million won to North Korea in August of the same year, and transporting about $300,000 in subsidies to China, and was sentenced to a fine of 10 million won.