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The Supreme Court Thursday overturned a guilty verdict on the late Cho Bong-am (1898-1959), 52 years after the nation’s first progressive party leader was executed on charges of espionage by the government of then-President Syngman Rhee.
Cho, who created the Jinbo (progressive) Party in 1956, challenged President Rhee in a presidential election and was executed three years later for espionage charges.
The retrial came after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded in September, 2007 that the original trial was clouded in mystery and the case should be retried.
Cho has been viewed as the victim of a “judicial murder.” It also said the subversion charge against him was created by the Rhee administration to “get rid of Rhee’s strongest rival in the presidential election.”
Upon the request, the Supreme Court finally held a hearing on Cho’s death last year to determine a second ruling on whether Cho’s execution was legally justifiable and decided to hold a retrial for Cho.
On Jan. 13, 1958, Cho was arrested by police on charges of spying and violating the National Security Law. He was charged with being sympathetic with North Korea’s reunification policy and receiving funds from the North.
He was initially sentenced to a five-year jail term at a district court. But both the appellate court and the Supreme Court sentenced him to death on Feb. 27, 1959, rejecting the call for a retrial from his family, claiming the espionage charges were concocted using faulty evidence and manipulated testimonies.
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