Lawyers accuse NIS of fabricating spy charge

A group of lawyers accused the National Intelligence Service of fabricating a pro-North Korea espionage charge against a Chinese-Korean man.

In February the former Seoul City employee identified by his surname Yoo was indicted for handing information on around 200 North Korean defectors to Pyongyang agents.

The Lawyers for a Democratic Society said Saturday that NIS agents threatened and coaxed his sister to make false confessions about her brother’s espionage activities.

“Yoo’s sister made the confessions after threats and physical assaults. If the confessions ― which were NIS’ only evidence for charges against Yoo ― turn out to be false, then the charges will not be valid,” said lawyers of the nongovernmental organization.

“They told me that I can live with my brother in South Korea if I do not deny their claim that he is a North Korean spy,” said the sister who was present at the briefing.

“They hit my head, kicked me and kept me in solitary confinement equipped with surveillance cameras during the investigation.”

She said she tried to commit suicide during the investigation.

The sister arrived in South Korea as a North Korean defector but an investigation by the authorities later found her to be Korean-Chinese.

She was ordered to leave South Korea by May 23.

The NIS said, “It is a false claim that the charges against Yoo were framed.”

“The charges were based on her confessions that were consistent during the investigation. And there were no threats or coercion.”

(wone0102@heraldcorp.com)