Top court upholds prison terms of union officials who spied for North Korea
Published: 25 Sep. 2025, 16:35
![The Supreme Court building in Seocho District, southern Seoul, is seen on Sept. 25. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/09/25/99658731-b157-4784-a983-1e40ba75f433.jpg)
The Supreme Court building in Seocho District, southern Seoul, is seen on Sept. 25. [YONHAP]
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a nine-year, six-month prison term for a former senior official of South Korea's largest umbrella union who contacted North Korean agents overseas and carried out their orders.
The top court’s Second Division confirmed the ruling against the former organization director of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), surnamed Seok, for violating the National Security Act, including espionage charges. Seok was also handed a nine-year and six-month suspension of qualifications.
The court also upheld a three-year prison term and a three-year suspension of qualifications for a former official of the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union, surnamed Kim, who was indicted for illegal border crossings under the act.
"The lower court did not misinterpret the law or omit key judgments regarding the charges of providing convenience, espionage, illegal entry and exit, and meeting and communicating with the enemy," the top court ruled.
"The court did not err in recognizing the admissibility of evidence obtained without international judicial assistance," the judge said.
From 2017 to 2022, Seok and Kim allegedly received directives from North Korea, carried out espionage activities under the guise of union work and met North Korean agents overseas in countries including China and Cambodia. Prosecutors indicted them in May last year.
Investigators said Seok also collected information, including the KCTU’s internal election trends and details of U.S. military facilities in Pyeongtaek and Osan.
Authorities uncovered more than 100 directives and reports exchanged with the North, as well as five loyalty pledges sent to Pyongyang. Prosecutors also argued that Seok and others, under the guidance of the North’s cultural exchange bureau, attempted to establish an underground network to recruit senior figures across the KCTU’s central, industrial and regional branches.
In the first trial last November, the court sentenced Seok to 15 years in prison and Kim to seven years, saying, “Their actions benefited North Korea, created division and unrest in society, and threatened the survival and security of the Republic of Korea by undermining the free democratic system. The crimes are of a very bad nature.” The Republic of Korea is South Korea's official name.
However, the appellate court reduced the sentences in May, ruling that the underground network was "unlikely to have existed in reality."
The judges also said large-scale strikes and social campaigns were decided autonomously within the KCTU, and that there was no evidence proving Seok delivered military information on U.S. bases to North Korean agents.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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