Man arrested for praising NK in court

A local court issued an arrest warrant for a trial observer for praising North Korea and throwing his shoes at the presiding judge.

Cheongju District Court issued an arrest warrant Friday for a 51-year-old man with the surname Oh on charges of disrupting a trial as well as charges of violating the National Security Law.

The incident occurred during a trial at an appellate court for a 57-year-old named Kang, Dec. 14. Kang had appealed against a 10-month prison sentence handed down to him by a district court, after being indicted on charges of breaching the National Security Law.

Kang pleaded not guilty, arguing that the National Security Law goes against the Constitution which guarantees freedom of speech.

But the presiding judge refuted Kang’s claims and dismissed his appeal.

Oh, a colleague of Kang who was observing the trial, was angered by dismissal, reportedly shouted “Hurray for Kim Il-sung (founder of North Korea)” and threw his shoes at the presiding judge.

The court ordered Oh to be detained for seven days.

The prosecution sought to investigate Oh but was unable to do so, because he refused to answer questions.

It requested an arrest warrant for him, which the court granted.

Kang was indicted three times on the same charges of violating the National Security Law since last year, receiving two eight-month prison terms and one 10-month term. <The Korea Times/Kim Bo-eun>