Former ANSP investigator sentenced to prison for falsely testifying about torture of labor activist

Posted on : 2020-06-29 00:38 KST Modified on : 2020-06-29 01:06 KST
Shim Jin-gu was arrested under false charged and subjected to brutal torture in 1986
A statue of Lady Justice at the Supreme Court of Korea in Seoul’s Seocho District. (Hankyoreh archives)
A statue of Lady Justice at the Supreme Court of Korea in Seoul’s Seocho District. (Hankyoreh archives)

A former investigator for the Agency for National Security Planning (ANSP, successor of the KCIA) has been sentenced to prison for falsely testifying that there had been “no torturing” of the labor activist Shim Jin-gu after his indictment on false espionage charges in connection with the so-called “National Liberation Workers’ Party incident.”

On June 25, Hon. Byeon Min-seon of the 10th criminal division of Seoul Central District Court announced that the 76-year-old former ANSP investigator identified by the surname Gu had been sentenced to 18 months in prison in a trial on perjury charges.

“The defendant has not apologized or shown remorse for his crime to Shim or his family in the 34 years since he perpetrated these brutal acts against Shim in 1986, and he has occasionally changed his testimony to avoid prosecution,” Byeon said.

“Indeed, he shows no sign of remorse, actively arguing that the accounts of Shim and his spouse are false,” he added as an explanation for the sentence. Byeon explained that a prison sentence was unavoidable despite Gu’s claims that he suffers from cognitive impairments and ill health due to his advanced age.

Noting that Gu “cannot be punished any more for his brutal acts against Mr. Shim due to the statute of limitations,” Byeon said, “Mr. Shim was unable to live a normal life due to his torture by Mr. Gu and other ANSP investigators, and although he worked ceaselessly to publicize the truth of the brutality he suffered, he has since passed away without ever having had the opportunity to receive Mr. Gu’s sincere repentance or apology.”

In December 1986, Shim, who was involved in the labor movement in Seoul’s Guro District, was taken and illegally imprisoned by the ANSP for 37 days for drafting a document titled “The Duties of a Progressive Worker” while maintaining close ties with Kim Young-hwan -- the so-called “godfather of the Jusapa movement” in the 1980s which was sympathetic to North Korean socialism. Kim Young-hwan currently works as a research fellow for the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights. In an attempt to force Shim to “confess” to National Security Act violations including the establishment of a group to “aid the enemy,” Gu and other investigators subjected him to torture including beatings and sleep deprivation.

In February 1987, Gu demanded that Shim appear on television denouncing the movement as a condition for receiving a suspended sentence; although he did not wish to do so, Shim agreed to appear in anticipation of his release. The footage aired on an MBC news special titled, “I Regret What I Did” and a KBS1 program titled “Prisoner No. 30’s Confession.” A court handed him a suspended sentence based on his false confession. Officially exonerated in a 2012 retrial, Shim passed away in 2014.

Appearing in court as a witness in Shim’s retrial, Gu said he had never engaged in acts of violence or torture such as beatings and intimidation. The indictment was the result of his false claim that there was “no struggle because Mr. Shim confessed to investigators.”

Byeon recognized Gu and the other investigators as having engaged in acts of brutality and torture against Shim based on his claims of brutality as published in the monthly “Mal [Speech]” in 1999 and testimony before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“Mr. Gu is deemed to have falsely testified contrary to his own memory when he testified in court that he had neither tortured Mr. Shim nor seen other investigators torturing him,” Byeon said.

After his release, Shim revealed his torture experience to the press. In 2004, he submitted a complaint to Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office claiming he had been subjected to violence and torture by ANSP investigators. Prosecutors concluded at the time that the right of indictment had lapsed due to the statute of limitations.

By Jang Ye-ji, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

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