SEOUL: A Seoul court has ordered the South Korean government to pay 901.2 million won ($665,926) to 82-year-old Kim Shin-geun, whose wrongful conviction of espionage from over five decades ago was recently overturned. Kim was acquitted in a retrial that recognized his illegal arrest, detention, and the torture he endured under the then Central Intelligence Agency, now the National Intelligence Service.
According to Yonhap News Agency, a government gazette, the Seoul High Court’s decision on October 4 came after Kim filed for a retrial last year to challenge his 1966 conviction on charges of espionage during his time as a graduate student at Korea University. The court’s ruling, which was finalized in July, acknowledged the use of illegal evidence in the original trial, ultimately finding no proof that Kim had posed any threat to state security.
The original case, known as the “European espionage operation,” involved accusations against Kim and several notable figures, including a University of Cambridge law
professor and a sitting lawmaker, both of whom were also posthumously acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2015. The court at that time ruled that their arrests were illegal and confessions were coerced under torture, leading to the conclusion that their convictions were unjustly fabricated.
The recent ruling not only highlights significant judicial reform but also emphasizes the enduring impact of wrongful convictions on individuals and their families. Kim’s case sheds light on a dark period of South Korean history, marked by a harsh crackdown on alleged espionage activities and highlights the importance of legal integrity and the protection of human rights.