Prosecutors Wednesday sought arrest warrants for three people suspected of praising and sympathizing with North Korea in violation of an anti-North Korea law.
The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office said it has asked the court to issue the writs for two former members of the now-defunct Unified Progressive Party and a union leader.
Woo Wi-young, one of the former UPP member, is accused of praising North Korea at public events in May 2013 in violation of the National Security Law that bans praising or sympathizing with North Korea.
The two others allegedly sung North Korean songs in public and possessed pro-North Korea materials, which also violates the law, prosecutors said.
The three are believed to have been part of the “Revolutionary Organization,” South Korean law enforcement authorities have dubbed as an anti-state entity.
The Supreme Court has convicted its leader, Lee Seok-ki, of instigating a rebellion but acquitted him of conspiring a rebellion.
The existence of the organization remains murky as the highest court last December did not recognize it.
South and North Korea remain technically at war because no peace treaty has been signed to end the 1950-53 Korean War.
The draconian law, enacted in 1948, has been condemned by international human rights groups for stifling freedom of speech.
The court is expected to deliberate on the legality of the arrest warrants late Wednesday night. (Yonhap)
