Civic groups back activist retweeting 'pro-NK' messages

Civic groups back activist retweeting 'pro-NK' messages

Civic group members demand the government release Park Jeong-keun, who was arrested on charges of re-tweeting “pro-North Korean” messages, at a press briefing in Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap By Kim Rahn Twenty-three progressive groups have formed a committee calling for the release of a man arrested for reposting dozens of pro-North Korean messages via his Twitter account. Members of the groups said Friday the arrest of Park Jeong-keun, 23, was an anachronistic measure, claiming the government mistook his parodies and jokes about former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as praise for him. Park, a photo studio operator, was indicted on charges of violating the National Security Law by retweeting about 100 messages posted on North Korea’s propaganda Twitter account, “Uriminjokkiri.” “Park’s case showed how the law can be misused to suppress an individual’s political belief and the freedom of expression. This comedic incident shows the government’s rigid attitude toward satire,” a member of the Socialist Party said in a media briefing in central Seoul. Park is an activist of the party. The participating groups include Amnesty International Korea, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the Korea Alliance of Progressive Movements and Lawyers for a Democratic Society. They said it is true Park posted many tweets regarding North Korea. “But his postings include a photo in which one of Park’s friends poses like a nude model in front of the former North Korean leader’s picture, and a painting in which a soldier’s smiling face on the North’s propaganda poster is changed into a tearful face. These were made to satirize the North Korean regime.” Park used phrases like “Long live Kim Jong-il,” but they were also ironic expressions to criticize the North, they said. “He is a member of the Socialist Party. This also shows he didn’t mean to praise North Korea because the party openly opposes North Korea’s Workers’ Party and criticized the country’s hereditary power succession over three generations,” the party member said. The committee also applied for bail for park, and will hold a one-man rally in relays to call for his release and the abolishment of the National Security Law. Park’s case is gaining international attention. Amnesty International recently issued a statement calling for his release.