After 50 years of being branded a 'pinko,' man cleared of violating anti-communism law

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After 50 years of being branded a 'pinko,' man cleared of violating anti-communism law

Published: 08 Apr. 2026, 14:10 Updated: 08 Apr. 2026, 17:22

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

An image of a statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice [KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

A man in his 70s had his name cleared almost half a century after he was wrongfully convicted on charges of being a communist sympathizer.

Shin Ji-woo, now 75 years old, was acquitted of violating the Anti-Communism Act by the Suncheon branch of the Gwangju District Court on Tuesday, 50 years after he was found guilty by a military court.

Wrongfully convicted fishermen acquitted after 56 years

Shin, who was serving as a homeland reserve soldier in 1976, was accused of failing to report pro-Pyongyang remarks allegedly made by an acquaintance named Shin Myung-gu, a fisherman who had previously been abducted to North Korea and later returned.

South Korea at the time was ruled by a right-wing dictatorship led by President Park Chung Hee.

Investigators at the time arrested Shin Ji-woo without a warrant and extracted a false confession from him through torture, according to findings presented during the retrial.

He was sentenced to six months in prison in December that same year and lived for decades with the stigma of having been labeled a “pinko.”

The turning point came after Shin Myung-gu — whose alleged remarks triggered Shin Ji-woo’s prosecution — was himself acquitted in a separate retrial in April last year.

During the proceedings, prosecutors sought an acquittal, acknowledging they could not present additional evidence to support the original charges that Shin Myung-gu had praised Pyongyang.

The Suncheon branch of the Gwangju District Court [JOONGANG ILBO]

In its ruling in Shin Ji-woo retrial, the court said his case had been “investigated and adjudicated by military judicial authorities under an authoritarian government,” adding that “the state failed to heed the defendant’s appeals for the truth to be revealed” and that the courts “cannot be free from responsibility.”

“It may be long overdue, but we hope this ruling offers some consolation to the now-elderly defendant and serves as an opportunity to restore his honor,” the court added.

However, Shin Ji-woo’s long-overdue acquittal is just the tip of the iceberg.

A total of 28 people are believed to have been punished in connection with alleged statements made by Shin Myung-gu. To date, only he and Shin Ji-woo have been acquitted. Two others are pursuing retrials, but some have already died.

When he was acquitted last year, Shin Myeong-gu called on the judiciary to overturn the convictions of others prosecuted because of their ties to him.

“What use is it if I am the only one acquitted?” he told domestic media.

Shin Ji-woo’s lawyer, Choi Jeong-gyu, urged prosecutors to take a more proactive role in clearing the convictions of those prosecuted at the time, noting the advanced age of many.

“Given that the victims are elderly, prosecutors should not wait for individual retrial petitions, but instead seek retrials,” he said.

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 KO SEUNG-PYO [[email protected]]