S. Korea Arrests 5 on Propaganda Charges
National police arrested five people Wednesday on charges of quoting North Korean propaganda in underground campus publications and said they are seeking six others on similar charges.
Seoul Police Director Lee Young Chang said the five will be prosecuted under the national security law, which provides for a maximum penalty of seven years in prison for helping the Communist cause through publications.
Police accused Kim Chong Min, editor of the underground campus publication Liberation Manifesto and the four others of publishing and distributing about 10,000 copies of the manifesto and another publication, One Million Students. Police said the publications quoted propaganda statements from Communist-ruled North Korea.
Police claimed the publications were the work of a radical student group called the Struggle Committee for Liberty and Democracy, which is said to be responsible for recent violent anti-government and anti-American demonstrations.
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