The bereaved family of Kim Sam-ryong, who was arrested and executed after serving as the leader of the South Korean Labor Party (Workers' Party of South Korea) following liberation, has visited the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, arguing he was the "victim of an illegal military trial."

Kim's 84-year-old nephew announced during a press conference held in front of the commission in Jung-gu, Seoul, hosted by the Chungbuk History and Culture Solidarity and others today (the 3rd), that he is filing a formal application with the commission to uncover the truth regarding the special military trial that sentenced his uncle, a civilian, to death, as well as the suffering endured by the family during the Korean War.

Born in 1910, Kim participated in the "Gyeongseong Troika," which led the anti-Japanese labor movement in the Seoul area during the 1930s, and was an underground activist who orchestrated various strikes during the post-liberation political turmoil.

After Park Hon-young, the leader of the South Korean Labor Party, fled to North Korea, Kim served as a top leader directing the party alongside Lee Ju-ha and Jung Tae-sik. He was arrested by police in March 1950 and sentenced to death by a special military trial in May of that same year.

The day after the outbreak of the Korean War, Kim and Lee Ju-ha were executed by firing squad by the military police on the slopes of Namsan.

(Photo: Yonhap News)