By Park Si-soo
Staff reporter

Two men wearing ivory-colored prison uniforms stepped into the courtroom, Wednesday, handcuffed and escorted by seemingly somewhat nervous police officers.

Asked of their jobs by presiding Judge Cho Han-chang, one answered in typical North Korean dialect, "I'm an agent of the state Reconnaissance Bureau (in Pyongyang)." The other sitting next to him nodded and said: "Me, too."

They were Tong Myung-gwan and Kim Myung-ho - North Korean spies who were caught by South Korea's intelligence agents early this year while attempting to enter Seoul with fake identities as defectors on a mission to assassinate Hwang Jang-yop, the highest ranking defector here who crafted the North's official state ideology "Juche."

Every move watched

The bureau is known as a state spy agency that trains agents destined to be sent to the South to collect information, mastermind pro-North campaigns or kill major defectors such as Hwang.

The two, both aged 36, were indicted on charges of engaging in subversive activities.

On Wednesday there was a hearing in a courtroom of the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul, where dozens of reporters were jockeying for position to catch a glimpse of their every single move and to take notes of everything coming out of their mouths.

More than 10 security guards, including two bulky men wearing black shirts and military boots, surrounded them in case of an emergency situation.

Tong and Kim were reportedly trained for many years to assassinate Hwang before being sent to complete the mission in the South, so authorities here believe they would be able to kill people with their bare hands.

Pleading guilty on all charges

They stayed tight-lipped during the 30-minute hearing but for just a couple of questions when the judge addressed them directly. They briefly replied - "Yes" or "Yes that's true."

During the hearing, they frequently gazed at the ceiling of the courtroom and at the prosecutors sitting on the opposite side, but never turned their eyes to the judge or toward the guest seats occupied by reporters and intelligence agents.

The two pled guilty on all charges against them and raised no objection to the nearly 200 recorded items the prosecution submitted as evidence.

Prosecutor Lee Jae-young had asked the judge for a closed-door trial for security reasons, but the judge refused, citing freedom of the press.

"Their family members are still alive in the North. They are in fear of possible punishment or ill-treatment since the case has been made public," Lee said.

Unlike other hearings freely accessible to all, only a limited number of reporters were allowed in the courtroom after thorough ID checks by court officials. The trial will be held on June 23.