Many of you might have heard of the ‘Korean Japanese Foreign Student Spy Incident,’ which happened approximately 40 years go. It was claimed that the some of the Korean Japanese(Korean residents in Japan) students who came abroad to South Korea for academia were actually North Korean spies. However, this incident turned out to be a false fabrication by the regime’s National Intelligence Service, in the name of fighting the communist threat of North Korea and in order to oppress the desires for democratization. Among the victims of this incident, there were students who came to study at our own university as well.
“There was great discrimination, biases and hatred against the Korean people in the 1960s Japan. Having lived through such hostility, I couldn’t stop thinking about the miserable realities of the Korean Japanese and why I had to withstand such unjust treatments. With this growing longing for my home country, I made my mind to come and study in Korea.”
No one expected such tragedy to befall Jonghun Kang, a 20-year-old student who traveled to his home nation and entered Seoul National University College of Medicine in the hopes of finding his “roots of existence.” In November, 1975, the Defense Security Command forcefully hauled him from his boarding house in Jongno-gu and tortured him for two whole months.
“The Korean Japanese students must have been an easy target for the Intelligence Agency, since we had no grounds in Korea and didn’t know the situations here. After I was tortured into false confession, my friends also had to serve time in prison only for befriending me. The next thing I knew, I was a leading spy for North Korea.”
4 months before the forced haul, in front of the College of Medicine. Mr. Kang was a perfectly normal 24-year-old medical student at the time.
Regarding the cruel treatment in the process of investigation of the Intelligence Agency, Jonghun Kang testifies that he was “investigated for no less than 50 days under all kinds of torture, blackmailing and deception from the National Intelligence Service until I was transferred to the Seoul detention center.” … He insisted that there were many attempts for coaxing and threatening, and revealed the acts of torture such as “searing the skin with tobacco, drugging, and injecting a shot that made me feel dizzy.”
- From the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee
In July, next year, Mr. Kang, who had no choice but to concede to all his charges, was confined in prison, sentenced to execution for the crime of idolizing Kim Il sung and spying to hand over the national security to North Korea.
“I still remember the words of the prosecutor who demanded my execution. He said South Korea could not allow the existence of a spy like me, since it holds anticommunism as its national motto. It was sorrowful to be a subject of execution in my home country where I came to set forth my aspirations. They even handcuffed me in prison, saying that it was for my own safety, since I might commit a suicide in pessimism. It was quite absurd. At that moment, I came to a resolution never to surrender to such oppressive regime which fools with people’s lives. That was how I spent my 6 years as a condemned criminal, handcuffed for 24 hours a day, being treated as a beast rather than a human being.”
He barely made through each day in the lightless prison, missing his family, hoping for the saving efforts from Japan. Ironically, however, it was the presence of his home nation that gave him strength to carry on.
“If I had been imprisoned in Japan for some other reason, I wouldn’t have possibly made it. I was able to make meaning out of my imprisonment since it was the prison of my home country. I could see the hopeful future of Korea from the students who were newly imprisoned, from the young men who were willing to give up their vested rights for a better society.”
Mr. Kang speaking at a welcoming ceremony after the 1988 release from prison.
Mr. Kang was finally freed after 13 years of imprisonment, having gone through various commutations from life imprisonment to 20-year sentence and so on. After the change of regime, the government made efforts to put right the wrongdoings of the past, and Mr. Kang was finally exonerated in his retrial in 2013, and was able to clear himself of false charge.
Last August, Seoul National University bestowed honorary diploma to Mr. Jonghun Kang of the ’85 class of medicine, Mr. Kyungjo-Huh of the ’73 class, Mr. Youngshik Park of the ’74 class of English Literature, Mr. Seunghyo Kim of ’74 class of sociology, and Mr. Jungsa Kim of the ’77 class, all of whom were unable to finish their studies due to false charges. What does this belated diploma mean to Mr. Kang?
“Although I was exonerated in my retrial, this was merely a verdict in the field of law. The perceptions of the Korean society towards the Korean Japanese is not that hospitable even now. There are many unfriendly texts as well. These considered, this diploma is an important turning point for our true rehabilitation. This diploma signifies our innocence not only on a legal level, but also on a social level as well.”
Mr. Jonghun Kang(left) and Mr. Youngshik Park(right) holding the honorary diploma
Mr. Kyungjo-Huh(left), Mr. Jungsa Kim(middle), and Mr. Seunghong Kim(right) who received the diploma by proxy for the deceased Mr. Seunghyo Kim
Among those who received the honorary diploma, Mr. Seunghyo Kim, who testified his painful memories as a falsely accused spy, could not receive the diploma in person. Mr. Kim passed away last winter, having suffered from physical, mental sicknesses from the trauma of imprisonment and tortures of the investigation process.
The meaning of diploma has never been contemplated on, since thousands of students receive it every year. SNU-bird could newly ruminate on the value of the diploma thanks to this interview, and is glad to congratulate this belated graduation.
“Versatile people who are able to transform themselves with the changing trends of the world will be able to make a lot of money and become successful. On the other hand, however, there are few people who strive to set right the wrongness of the world rather than comply with its imperfections. And our modern history has continuously been pioneered by the sweats and tears of these kind of people. I’m not encouraging SNU students to go and ask for trouble. I’m encouraging students to have courage and follow virtues and conscience as a human being to not compromise one’s own principles and beliefs.”
The letter Mr. Youngshik Park sent after receiving the honorary diploma
Dear Seoul National University President Sejeong-Oh,
And the Dean of the College of Humanities Seokjae-Lee.
I am greatly thankful for the honorary diploma which I’d never even dreamt for in my wildest dreams. I transferred to this school’s College of English Language and Literature after finishing my second year of college in Japan, in hopes of studying English at my home country. However, I had no choice but to give up on my academia and graduation due to the domestic situation back then. After then, I had to endure 6 years and 3 months of imprisonment. In my retrial in 2014 however, I was exonerated and the judge even made a personal apology to me, so the nation did recover my honor.
Regardless of the results of my retrial, I had always been regretful of the fact that I couldn’t graduate college, so how overwhelming it was to receive my diploma in no less than 46 years!
I was deeply moved by the phrase “to honor the sacrifices made for the nation and its people,” and could feel the warmth and affection of the school towards its student. The diploma is the most valuable present I’ve ever received.
I am honored to live the rest of my life as an honorary graduate of Seoul National University, and again would like to thank the school for this honor.
August 23, 2021
Youngshik Park