고 김남주 시인, ‘남민전 사건’ 재심서 46년 만에 무죄

Poet 김남주 was declared not guilty in a retrial of the "Nammintan" incident, 46 years after his conviction. The Seoul Central District Court's Criminal 28th Division ruled that 2nd February saw the judge, 한대균, declare 김 시인 not guilty of violating the National Security Act. The court acknowledged "the basic fact that (김 시인) was subjected to cruel treatment such as violence, intimidation, etc., while detained," and pointed out that "the prosecutor's office had also pleaded not guilty to charges of violating the anti-communist law, and after reviewing various evidence, it was determined that he was innocent."

In 1978, 김 시인 joined the preparatory committee of the Namcheonmin Enlightenment Liberation Front (Nammintan) due to his involvement in the anti-유신 democratic movement. In October 1979, he was arrested by the police on the grounds that he was a spy for North Korea, ordered by Pyongyang. The government at the time labeled Nammintan a North Korean infiltration unit, and the investigative bodies tortured and manipulated the case.

The police used torture and intimidation to obtain false confessions from 김 시인, who later became one of the first poets to publish works while in prison, including his debut collection 'Jin Hong Ga.' Released in 1988 after serving 15 years of a 15-year prison sentence, 김 시인 passed away in 1994 due to stomach cancer. His family had filed for retrial in 2024, citing torture and cruel treatment during the investigation.

The Criminal Procedure Act allows for retrial when law enforcement officials involved in the primary investigation are found guilty of misconduct in their duties. The court accepted the retrial application on 10th October 2024. The Nammintan incident's victims have experienced some measure of honor restoration through previous government investigations.

The Migrant Rights and Compensation Consultative Council recognized 김 시인 and 28 other Nammintan participants as democratic movement victims in March 2006. The Ministry of Public Safety and the Ministry of Government Legislation also acknowledged in September 2006 that the government's involvement in the Nammintan case amounted to "promoting a crisis and producing misinformation, even though it was not a large-scale infiltration operation."