Victims of the 'Seoul National University Murim Incident' Acquitted After 40 Years...Cleared of False Charges Following Retrial

Seoul Central District Court / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Professor Kim Myung-in of Inha University and Mr. Park Yong-hoon, who suffered torture during the so-called 'Seoul National University Murim Incident' under the Chun Doo-hwan regime, were exonerated after 40 years.

The Criminal Appeals Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Lee Gwan-yong) acquitted them in a second retrial. They had been sentenced to prison in 1981 for violating the Martial Law Act and Anti-Communist Law. The court stated, "Considering various evidence, there is a considerable possibility that the defendants were subjected to torture and harsh treatment by investigative agencies," and added, "Although there are circumstances that exclude the voluntariness of their statements, the prosecution has failed to provide evidence to dispel these doubts." Furthermore, the court judged, "The defendants made statements in the original trial that seemed to admit guilt, but it is suspected that these confessions were coerced while they were illegally detained."

Professor Kim was a student in the Korean Literature Department at Seoul National University in 1980. He and fellow students created flyers for on-campus assemblies to inform about the truth of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. In January of the following year, he was indicted for violating the Martial Law Act and Anti-Communist Law and sentenced to three years in prison. The campus protests involving Professor Kim, Mr. Park, and others, as well as the illegal arrests and torture by the Chun Doo-hwan regime, have been referred to as the 'Seoul National University Murim Incident.' Those arrested were subjected to prolonged illegal detention and harsh torture, including beatings, water torture, and joint dislocation, by torture specialist Lee Geun-an and others.

After democratization, they filed for a retrial in 1998 and were acquitted only of the Martial Law Act violation charges. Two years ago, after filing again, they received a suspended sentence for the Anti-Communist Law violation charges. Subsequently, Professor Kim and Mr. Park filed for another retrial in 2018, which led to their complete acquittal on this day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.