Court Orders State to Compensate Yu Woosung's Family Over 200 Million Won for 'Spy Accusation' Damage

Spy fabrication case victim Yoo Woosung is attending the first trial sentencing date of the lawsuit against the state at the Seoul Central District Court on the morning of the 12th and holding a press conference. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] A court has ruled that the state must take responsibility and compensate Yoo Woosung and his family, victims of the 'Seoul City Spy Fabrication' case.

The Civil Division 31 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Jisuk Kim) partially ruled in favor of Yoo and his father and younger brother in a damages claim lawsuit filed against the Republic of Korea Intelligence Service. The court ordered the defendant government to pay Yoo 120 million won, his father 30 million won, and his younger brother 80 million won as consolation money, totaling 230 million won.

Yoo, who defected from North Korea in 2004, was arrested and indicted in 2013 on charges of violating the National Security Act for allegedly passing information about North Korean defectors in South Korea to the North Korean State Security Department (now the State Security Department) while working as a contract public official for Seoul City since 2011. The prosecution based its case on the testimony of Yoo's younger brother, but the appeal court found that Yoo's North Korea-China border crossing records submitted during the trial were fabricated, resulting in a final acquittal on the National Security Act charges.

Immediately after Yoo's acquittal on the National Security Act charges was confirmed by the Supreme Court, Yoo's younger brother filed a lawsuit against the state on October 30, 2015, demanding compensation for damages caused by illegal acts. Following the younger brother, Yoo and his father also filed lawsuits in 2018. The amounts claimed were 250 million won for Yoo, 150 million won for the younger brother, and 80 million won for the father.

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