Ex-military officer nabbed for running pro-NK online community

A former military officer has been arrested on charges of running a pro-North Korea Internet community in violation of the law banning content and activities that extol the communist country, police said Friday.

The National Police Agency detained the 46-year-old former Army officer, surnamed Bang, on charges of leading the Internet cafe with 240 members and disseminating about 13,000 postings of propaganda from the North, the police said.

The former officer, who served in an artillery unit before retiring as a captain in the 1990s, was also accused of uploading about 400 postings or comments in praise of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il and the nation's political system.

In his postings, Bang portrayed the United States as a "satanic devil" while describing the 1950-53 Korean War as having been instigated by the South, the police said.

Since the start of an investigation into the Internet community in October of last year, a total of 13 community members, including a doctor and two kindergarten teachers, have been prosecuted for pro-North activities, according to the police. They have requested the local communications watchdog shut down the Internet cafe, the police said.

The country's National Security Law regulates Internet sites or content that extol or propagandize the North Korean leader or the communist system of the country, which is by law defined as a national enemy since the Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

Dozens of people have been booked or arrested for pro-North activities since new Prosecutor General Han Sang-dae declared war on such activities as he took office in August. (Yonhap)

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