Leader Vows to Free Political Prisoners

South Korean President Kim Dae Jung said he will mark the first anniversary of his inauguration by freeing 1,500 prison inmates, including a man believed to be the world’s longest-serving political prisoner. The amnesty is remarkable because 17 long-term prisoners of conscience--including Woo Yong Gak, a former North Korean seaman who has been imprisoned for 41 years--will not be required to sign statements renouncing communism. Such statements have always been required from political prisoners granted amnesty, almost all of whom were jailed because of their ties to the North.