By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A former member of Congo's intelligence service was given refugee status in Korea, ending his three-year-long legal battle here to be recognized as a political exile.
The Seoul Administrative Court ruled Monday that it accepted the former spy's request for political asylum, overriding the previous decision by the Ministry of Justice.
The ministry originally rejected his request in 2005, alleging that it was unclear whether his return to the Congo would have life-threatening consequences.
In the ruling, the court said ``Serving as an agent for the Congo's intelligence service Agence Nationale des Renseignements (ANR), he experienced torture by the organization due to his leaking of state secrets to political rivals. The experiences can be interpreted as treason.''
The former agent uncovered a series of corrupt actions by government officials including ANR members, discriminatory practices of the intelligence agency and other state secrets, the court said. He reported them to the nation's largest opposition party, the Union Pour la Democratie et le Progres Social (UDPS).
As a result, he was imprisoned on charges of revealing state secrets. Thanks to help from his colleagues, he was able to break out of jail in July 2002 and entered China later that month.
Sensing that staying in China could be a threat to his safety due to the friendly relations between the two nations, he arrived in Korea via Incheon port, 37 kilometers west of Seoul, in September 2002. He asked the justice ministry to recognize him as a political refugee in November of that year.