hankyoreh

The prosecution has decided not to file any charges against Jo Jeong Nae, author of the ten volume novel Taebaek Sanmaek ("The Taebaek Mountains") for violating the National Security Law (NSL), 11 years after it received a formal complaint about its contents. It was right to drop the investigation. It is recommended reading at many universities and critics call it one of the modern Korean literature's best, so it would have been laughable if it was officially declared "subversive material." However, the way in which the prosecution let this case drag on for 11 years is something that must not be looked at lightly.

No matter who you are it does not come easy knowing an investigative agency is looking into you on criminal charges. In a recent interview Jo said he "has never had a day free from fear and pain as if I was being endlessly watched and tortured." Numerous readers must have felt uneasy at the thought they were in possession of something that could potentially be declared "material advantageous to the enemy." The prosecution needs to apologize.

The prosecution might want to defend itself by saying the NSL is still right there on the law books, Jo was the subject of a formal complaint, and that it was hard to decide a course of action. The constitution supersedes all other laws, however, and the most essential elements of the basic rights it guarantees must not be infringed upon, for any reason. The prosecution surely knows that better than anyone. Once, prosecutors indicted the authors of "Understanding Korean Society" and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies professor Yi Jang Hui for his book "I'm the Unification Generation." All were declared not guilty by the Supreme Court after being dragged around and made to suffer for a period of more than 10 years.

Scholarly writing and works of art may be subject do debate. Or, rather, a healthy society needs that kind of debate. Investigative organizations must not, however, use the philosophies they contain as excuse to get involved. In that sense the prosecution's investigation of Taebaek Sanmaek was unreasonable from the start. If it feels in any way sorry to those who have suffered from unreasonable indictments or drawn-out investigations, prosecutors need to make their reason for not charging Jo "freedom of expression" instead of "number of volumes sold."

The Hankyoreh, 30 March 2005.


[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]