[asia-apec 389] Arrest of a Buddhist Monk

[YoonKyong Lee]

                  HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE IN S. KOREA
                      ARREST OF A BUDDHIST MONK
     
     Principle Facts  of  the Arrest  and  the Trial  of  the 
     Venerable Jin Kwan (Legal name, Yong Mo Park) a Buddhist 
     monk of South Korea
     
Arrest:  October 1, 1996

Trial:  March 21, 1997 first trial.  April 4, second trial 

Charges:    "suspicion   of   espionage"    "meeting  and 
     communicating with a North Korean"

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Human  Rights  Issues:  1.   Political imprisonment:    this 
     Buddhist monk met  with a  North Korean  in Beijing  and 
     talked about   the desires  of  long-term  pro-Communist 
     prisoners,   and   about  possible   cooperation   among 
     Buddhists in South and North  Korea.  For these acts he 
     is being charged with crimes of espionage!  He is  being 
     persecuted because   of the  South  Korean  government's 
     policy of   maintaining a   monopoly on  efforts  toward 
     unification.  At the preliminary trial he testified that 
     members of  the National  Security Agency  beat him  and 
     held him sleepless during their interrogations.  He  has 
     been held prisoner all these months even though he  is a 
     well known   public figure,  a member   of the  Buddhist 
     Central Committee.  There  is strong reason  to believe 
     that the espionage charges are politically motivated.
                         2. The   human rights  of  long-term 
     pro-North Korean   prisoners in   S. Korea.   Long-term 
     pro-communist prisoners who have refused to change their 
     ideology want to be returned  to N. Korea but are  being 
     refused.
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     Background of the case
     
                The   charges  all   stem  from   Jin  Kwan's 
     relationship with Kang Byong Yun, a resident  of Canada, 
     whom he  has known  since  1991, when  they met   at the 
     Pomminjok ('Whole   Nation') Convention  of  that  year.  
     Kang has been engaged  in Korean unification  activities 
     in Canada and the U.S., and has been pro-North  Korea in 
     his stance.  The  charges against  Kang Byong  Yun, Jin 
     Kwan, and a  few others  were prepared  by the  National 
     Security Agency of  South Korea and  turned over to  the 
     prosecutors in the case.
     
     Account given by Jin Kwan himself
     
        On September 11, 1995 Jin Kwan received an invitation 
     from Kang Byong Yun to  visit Canada.  After meeting in 
     Canada  Jin  Kwan  accompanied  Kang  to  Beijing  on  a 
     vacation trip.  Also,  Jin Kwan believed  he could meet 
     Park Tae   Ho of   the N.  Korean  Buddhist  Federation.   
     However, in  Beijing  Kang took  him  to the  N.  Korean 
     embassy,   without  giving   advance  notice   of  their 
     destination.  Jin Kwan  did not enter  the embassy, but 
     later met with  a North Korean  at a different  location 
     and discussed with  that person the  possibility of  the 
     return to N. Korea of some long-term pro-North prisoners 
     of S. Korea,  and also suggested  the possibility of  S. 
     Korea-N. Korea cooperation in celibrating the 1996 feast 
     of Buddha's Birthday.  He received no clear response  to 
     these suggestions.  There was certainly no conversation 
     which could be construed as "state secrets" or "national 
     security". 
     
     Strange aspects of the case
     
        Kang is a very outspoken person, not at all secretive 
     about his  visits to  N. Korea.   He does  not  hold an 
     important position among  pro-North Korean residents  of 
     Toronto.  He is therefore not suited to play the role of 
     an undercover  agent for  N. Korea.   This weakens   the 
     basis for making this case one of espionage.
     
        Kang phoned Jin Kwan in  September, 1996 and said  he 
     would be at Kimpo airport (the international  airport of 
     Seoul) on Sept. 14.  Jin Kwan met him there.  There was 
     no other exchange except that Kang said he was  going to 
     N., Korea and would return on Sept. 24th.  According  to 
     the National Security Agency, they arrested Kang on Sept 
     24th.  There is some suspicion that he may have gone  to 
     the National Security Agency on his own.
     
     Reactions to Jin Kwan's arrest
     
        Five hundred Buddhist monks of S. Korea have signed a 
     petition (Nov. 15, 1996) demanding his release.  Amnesty 
     International, Catholic Human Rights Committee of Korea, 
     and oths arrest  to S. 
     Korean authorities, or  have released public  statements 
     of protest.
     
     
     
     Results    witnesses implies that  he intends  to build  a case  of 
     espionage against Jin Kwan.
     
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