After being sentenced to 15 years in prison for violating the National Security Act, he was acquitted after 46 years.

After being sentenced to 15 years in prison for violating the National Security Act, he was acquitted after 46 years.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Seungyeon Lee = The prosecution appealed the retrial acquittal of the late poet Kim Nam-ju, who was imprisoned for joining the preparatory committee for ‘Namminjeon’ (South Korean National Liberation Front).

According to the legal community on the 9th, the prosecution submitted an appeal to the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Agreement Division 28 (Chief Judge Han Dae-gyun) the day before.

In the previous retrial, the prosecution sought poet Kim's innocence on charges of violating the National Security Act, but argued that he was guilty on some charges, such as robbery and preliminary robbery.

On the 2nd, the court found poet Kim not guilty on all charges, including violation of the National Security Act, finding that harsh treatment such as illegal detention, assault, and threats had been committed against him.

Namminjeon is an underground organization formed in 1976 by Lee Jae-moon, a reporter for Minjok Ilbo, with the goal of anti-Yushin democratization movement.

About 80 people were arrested for violating the National Security Act and other reasons while engaging in activities such as distributing leaflets criticizing the Yushin regime in downtown Seoul. This was recorded as the largest public security incident in the late Yushin era.

Poet Kim was arrested in 1979 on charges of leading the anti-Yushin movement, including joining the Preparatory Committee for the Nammin Exhibition in 1978, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison the following year.

Poet Kim was released on parole in 1988 after being imprisoned for 9 years and 2 months, but passed away from pancreatic cancer in 1994, 5 years later.

Even in prison, poet Kim wrote poetry by sharpening his toothbrush and pressing it on milk cartons and tin foil.

The 250 poems he wrote in prison were published in his first collection of poems, 'Requiem', published in 1984, followed by 'My Sword, My Blood' and 'The Fatherland is One'.