Executed Daily Head Cleared by Court
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A Seoul court cleared a newspaper chief executed during the 1960s militant dictatorship on charges of espionage and siding with the North Korean regime through his paper's articles.
The Seoul Central District Court Wednesday exonerated Cho Yong-soo, the late head of Minjok Ilbo.
In the ruling, the court said ``the deceased did not participate in espionage for the North. And there is no evidence proving that he sided with the communist state.''
The ruling came 47 years after he was executed in December 1961 at a Seoul prison.
Cho established Minjok Ilbo in February 1961. Following the 5.16 military coup led by two-star general Park Jung-hee, the paper came under fire from the government due to the paper's progressive and innovative tone that was interpreted as supporting North Korea.
The military government arrested Cho on May 18 and enforced the closure of the paper the following day.
The government alleged that the paper had been made under the North's support and it had published articles praising North Korea.
The military court sentenced him to death in the first trial. The second trial also upheld the decision, ending in his capital punishment. Cho was executed at Seodaemun Prison in Seoul on Dec. 21, 1961.
Cho's younger brother lodged a complaint to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Jan. 10, 2006, alleging his brother did not support the communist state.
The commission recommended the court review the previous ruling and the court accepted the proposal in November 2006.
``The military court sentenced Cho to death, alleging that he had served as an executive of a left-wing party and sided with North Korea,'' the commission said. ``But there is no clear evidence proving his left-leaning behavior.''
Following the court ruling, the commission said ``we welcome the decision. We plan to further ask the court to review questionable rulings made during the dictatorship in the 1960s.''