Prosecutors Appeal Acquittal in Retrial of Late Poet Kim Nam-joo Over 'Namminjeon' Case

Prosecutors have appealed the acquittal of the late poet Kim Nam-joo, who served prison time after joining the preparatory committee for the "Namminjeon" (South Korean National Liberation Front).

Prosecutors submitted their appeal yesterday (September 8) to Criminal Settlement Division 28 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Han Dae-kyun).

During the earlier retrial, prosecutors had sought an acquittal on charges of violating the National Security Act against poet Kim, but argued for and maintained his guilt on certain charges, including robbery and preparation for robbery.

On September 2, the court ruled that severe abuses such as illegal detention, assault, and intimidation had been committed against poet Kim, and acquitted him of all charges, including violations of the National Security Act.

Namminjeon was an underground organization formed in 1976 by figures such as Lee Jae-moon, a former reporter for the Minjok Ilbo, with the goal of carrying out the anti-Yushin democratization movement.

Around 80 people were arrested under charges including violations of the National Security Act after engaging in activities such as distributing leaflets criticizing the Yushin regime across Seoul.

This was recorded as the largest public security case of the late Yushin era.

Poet Kim was arrested in 1979 for leading anti-Yushin movement activities, such as joining the Namminjeon preparatory committee in 1978, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison the following year.

Poet Kim was paroled under a suspension of execution in 1988 after serving about nine years and two months in prison, but passed away from pancreatic cancer in 1994, about five years later.

Even in prison, poet Kim wrote poems by sharply filing toothbrushes and pressing them onto milk cartons and tin foil.

Some 250 poems written in prison were subsequently published through his first poetry collection "Requiem" released in 1984, as well as "My Sword, My Blood" and "The Fatherland is One."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.