Court Denies Citizen Jury Trial for 'Changwon Spy Ring' Case

Those involved with the Jazutongil Minjung Jeonwi (Jatong) who were prosecuted in the ‘Changwon Spy Group Case’ applied for a 국민참여재판 (citizen participation trial), but their request was denied.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 30 (Presiding Judge Kang Durye) dismissed the citizen participation trial application for four defendants, including Hwang (60), on the 9th. The citizen participation trial is a system where randomly selected jurors participate in the trial and provide opinions on guilt or innocence. Although the jurors’ verdicts and sentencing recommendations are not binding, the court takes them into consideration during sentencing.

Hwang’s defense attorney stated at the preparatory hearing last month, “It is necessary to have the public’s common-sense perspective on whether it is worth punishing the defendants based on the outdated National Security Act.”

In response, the prosecution argued, “If the identities of the related persons (who will appear as witnesses) are disclosed, it will cause serious harm to national security.”

Hwang and others are accused of following North Korea’s southern communist unification line from March 2016 to November 2022, forming Jatong, meeting with North Korean agents in Cambodia and other places, receiving instructions and operational funds, collecting domestic political information according to orders, and reporting it to North Korea.

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