Forged documents withdrawn as evidence in espionage case

North Korean defectors take part in a press conference at Cheonggye Plaza in downtown Seoul accusing defector Yu Woo-sung of being a North Korean spy. Prosecutors appealed a lower court verdict that found Yu not guilty of espionage. / Yonhap

By Kim Se-jeong

Prosecutors have withdrawn three documents submitted to the appellate court as evidence against Yu Woo-sung, a former Seoul city government official from North Korea accused of being a spy.

The documents include travel records for Yu and two statements confirming the authenticity of those records from a Chinese consulate.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) was implicated in the fabrication of the documents. The NIS is claiming that its agents gathered documents through its own sources in China, denying its direct involvement in the forgery.

Despite the withdrawal, the prosecution said it would not drop Yu’s indictment on espionage charges.

“We’ve come to decide that these documents have lost their value as evidence. Without them, we still have enough evidence to prove his guilt,” said a prosecutor surnamed Yoon.

He said the prosecution still has the recording of an interview with Yu’s sister, who testified against her brother during a preliminary interrogation although she has since disavowed her testimony.

Thursday’s development came less than a week after one NIS officer unsuccessfully attempted to commit suicide. Known as Kwon, he was under investigation for his involvement in the alleged forging of evidence.

The prosecution claims Yu illegally entered North Korea in May 2006 on a purported mission of passing the data of North Korean defectors registered in the city of Seoul to North Korean authorities. That was two years after he had arrived in the South. In 2011, he got a job at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and allegedly handed over the information to the North through his sister.