'Tonghyeokdang Reconstruction Incident' Late Jin Doo-hyun and Park Seok-joo Acquitted

[Financial News] The so-called 'Tonghyeokdang Reconstruction Committee Incident', in which the late Jin Doo-hyun and the late Park Seok-joo were sentenced to heavy penalties, has been confirmed as acquitted by the Supreme Court. It is the first time in 51 years since they were falsely accused as spies.
The Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Judge Lee Sook-yeon) confirmed the original ruling of acquittal in the retrial appeal case of Jin and Park, who were indicted on charges of violating the National Security Act, on the morning of the 29th.
They were sentenced to death or long-term imprisonment for violating the National Security Act, being involved in the 'Tonghyeokdang Reconstruction Committee Incident' during the Park Chung-hee regime in 1975. The Tonghyeokdang Reconstruction Committee Incident is a case where 17 people involved in the unification movement in 1974 were falsely accused as spies and convicted of violating the National Security Act.
Jin was commuted to life imprisonment, served 16 years in prison, and was released in 1990, passing away in 2014. Park reportedly died in 1984 while serving his sentence. Although Jin and Park have passed away, their families requested a retrial.
The Seoul High Court decided on a retrial in July 2023 and acquitted them last October. The court ruled that the evidence submitted was illegally collected and thus difficult to recognize as valid evidence.
The Seoul High Court stated, "The confession statements made at the investigative agency were made without voluntariness due to illegal detention, assault, and harsh treatment by investigators, and thus cannot be recognized as valid evidence. Considering this, the evidence submitted by the prosecutor is insufficient to prove the defendants' charges beyond reasonable doubt."
The Supreme Court dismissed the prosecutor's appeal, stating, "There is no error in the original judgment that affected the ruling by violating the principles of logic and experience, exceeding the limits of free conviction, or misunderstanding the legal principles regarding evidence capability, voluntariness of confession, and corroborative evidence."


kyu0705@fnnews.com Kim Dong-kyu Reporter