South Korean Man Given Suspended Sentence For Retweeting NK Propaganda

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South Korean Man Given Suspended Sentence For Retweeting NK Propaganda

Posted by Unknown on Wednesday November 21, 2012 @06:20AM from the don't-talk-about-it dept.

tukang writes "Park Jung-geun, 24, of South Korea has been given a 10 month suspended prison sentence for violating the country's National Security Law, which prohibits 'praising, encouraging or propagandizing' North Korea, by retweeting over 100 North Korean propaganda posts."

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Thank goodness... by hawks5999 · 2012-11-21 06:24 · Score: 5, Funny

If people keep retweeting that kind of propaganda it might infect South Korea with totalitarianism and restrictions on things like speech.
1. Re:Thank goodness... by ryzvonusef · 2012-11-21 06:56 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  From the articles:
  
  Mr. Park, who is 24 years old, had told the court he spread the messages as a way of lampooning North Korea. ...
  “There is something left to be desired in the court ruling that (my act was) intended to benefit the enemy though,” he added. “The National Security Law should be revised as quickly as possible.
  
  In a North Korean post that he tweaked and sent out on Twitter, he replaced a swarthy North Korean soldier’s face with a downcast version of his own and the soldier’s rifle with a bottle of whiskey.
  In his ruling, the presiding judge, Shin Jin-woo, acknowledged that some of Mr. Park’s posts were parody. But he said Mr. Park’s overall acts were tantamount to “supporting and joining forces with an antistate entity.” The justice said his court suspended the prison term, however, because Mr. Park promised not to repeat his act.
  Prosecutors argued that Mr. Park’s Twitter posts served as a dangerous tool for spreading North Korean propaganda.
  
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2. Re:Thank goodness... by demonlapin · 2012-11-21 08:07 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  This is the country that still believes in fan death.
3. Re:Thank goodness... by Meeni · 2012-11-21 11:19 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  They are still at war with NK, you know. It's been 60 years, but they are still at war. And not always cold, as the bombing of civilians last year recall, or the sinking of navy units 2 years ago by a submarine. Praising a country you are actively at war with is often seen as treason, even in free countries. You may or may not agree, but it is not unusual.
better a suspended SENTENCE than a suspended GUY by RobertLTux · 2012-11-21 06:27 · Score: 2

i would bet if you flipped this backwards the guy himself would have been hung

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I'm curious... by ctk76 · 2012-11-21 06:43 · Score: 5, Interesting

I'm genuinely curious. What would happen in the US if I tweet messages praising Al-Qaeda and retweeted their propaganda and warnings about terrorism?
1. Re:I'm curious... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-21 06:53 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Twitter would probably lock your account. Someone might get assigned to watch your behavior, but since you're a non-trivial donator to Democrat causes, it would quickly get dismissed as anti-Bush behavior and perfectly acceptable. Within three months, your Twitter account will be mentioned in a presidential speach explaining the abundance of freedoms in this country.
2. Re:I'm curious... by tnk1 · 2012-11-21 07:38 · Score: 2
  
  If you simply retweeted them, and only let's say, typed an IRONY tag around them, you might have to deal with the government saying you were giving material aid.
  If you made it pretty darn clear that you were lampooning them, particularly by adjusting the text to something ridiculous, you'd probably get away with parody.
  You need to be careful with verbatim copies of that information, because often the messages themselves are crafted to have a psychological effect, and so one way that a real sympathizer could spread the material is a retweeting that says: "Just joking" after a very serious 160 characters berating the American devils and their European lapdogs.
3. Re:I'm curious... by detritus. · 2012-11-21 08:31 · Score: 2
  
  What the fuck are you talking about? These tweets aren't promoting terrorism, it's promoting nationalism and communism.
  I don't think you know the first thing about the DPRK and why it's such a paranoid and authoritative government.
  What South Korea did was just as bad as they are. The difference is the latter isn't isolated from the rest of the world.
Re:Different Counties Have Different Laws. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-21 06:46 · Score: 2, Informative

Canada also has laws against disrespecting the queen (more specifically, alarming her in any way). There's also a law that says you may not be in a residential area at night (prowling), amongst other silly laws that rarely get enforced. Let's not forget the hate speech laws...
This doesn't mean these countries (including mine) aren't absolutely idiotic for having them.
retweet! by schlachter · 2012-11-21 07:19 · Score: 4, Funny

You would need to pack your belongings and immediately retweet to a safer location like Iwan.

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Re:Different Counties Have Different Laws. by tnk1 · 2012-11-21 07:23 · Score: 3, Informative

Canada also has laws against disrespecting the queen (more specifically, alarming her in any way). There's also a law that says you may not be in a residential area at night (prowling), amongst other silly laws that rarely get enforced. Let's not forget the hate speech laws...
This doesn't mean these countries (including mine) aren't absolutely idiotic for having them.
There are a lot of crazy people who, for some reason, like discharging unloaded firearms at or in the presence of royalty. I think it has happened to Queen Elizabeth at least once and it happened to Queen Victoria a few times, and neither perpetrator was doing it for any other reason than being crazy. Basically, since the firearm was unloaded, it was was not an attack, but discharging firearms or making loud noises like that around the head of state is usually not a good thing for anyone. That is why countries associated with the UK may have laws about "alarming" the monarch, because the usual cause of the alarm involves explosions, firearms, or situations that are particular to being a head of state.
I agree, though, there are a lot of silly laws out there, but something like lese majeste, used to be a very serious crime when monarchies were not as constitutional as they are now, and even most common people might call for it to be enforced. In Thailand, they still make great use of that law, but ironically, it is actually used more by the elected government against people criticizing the country than by the King himself. The King frequently pardons people accused of that crime. Of course, with everything having to do with Thailand, it is not entirely certain how much the King is involved in the actual governance. Some people think he's purely a figurehead, except his great popularity, and some think that he's quietly running the whole thing himself.
Give the stupid back their voice SK! by geraldkw · 2012-11-21 07:37 · Score: 2

Dear South Korean government, The stupid need a voice too. How can people learn how stupid they are if they are not allowed to display their stupidity. Thanks, Concerned Citizen of the World
Emigration, not punishment by marvinglenn · 2012-11-21 08:05 · Score: 2

Instead of bothering with punishment in SK, why not just help him emigrate to NK? Maybe after he's lived there, he'll realize what a crap hole it is and try to help the place go Gangnam Style.

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anonymity is the only defense by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-21 08:09 · Score: 2, Insightful

the only defense the powerless have against the powerful is anonymity
that is why the powerful want to destroy the anonymous internet
if the guy had hadn't associated his real name with his account then used twitter through tor or an out of country vpn he would still have his freedom
lesson learned, if you do anything that might possibly get the attention of those with the power to harm you don't let them know it was you who did it
Re:Different Counties Have Different Laws. by detritus. · 2012-11-21 08:26 · Score: 2

Man breaks local law and gets punished for it, film at 11. Why is this an issue? In Thailand you get thrown in jail for simply disrespecting the king, in Singapore you'll get hung (or at least caned) for carrying the smallest amount of illegal drugs. the world is not completely homogenous (at least not yet).
This is nothing but modern-day McCarthyism. Freedom of speech is a human rights issue, and we have to stop supporting governments who do this, even our own.
Re:actions reveal reality by HungWeiLo · 2012-11-21 08:55 · Score: 4, Interesting

You ain't kidding about the overreach of corporations in SK. It's as close to a real-life Omni Consumer Products as it's going to get.
In Korea, it's possible to leave from your Samsung-constructed apartment complex using the Samsung-constructed elevator, and get into your Samsung-built car to drive to a Samsung-owned eatery before going to work in a Samsung subsidiary.

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Superstition by phorm · 2012-11-21 09:47 · Score: 2

No, it's not.
There may be some people in the country who believe in it, just like there are people in N. America that believe equally wacky stuff.
In Canada, there were warnings of people using the superstitions of Chinese immigrants to scam them for money (insisting they were followed by a bad spirit, charging them to "cleanse" personal items, and stealing said items).
Re:Different Counties Have Different Laws. by Jah-Wren+Ryel · 2012-11-21 10:01 · Score: 2

Basically, since the firearm was unloaded, it was was not an attack, but discharging firearms or making loud noises like that around the head of state is usually not a good thing for anyone.
How does one discharge an unloaded firearm?`

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Re:Different Counties Have Different Laws. by mjwx · 2012-11-21 13:24 · Score: 2

Basically, since the firearm was unloaded, it was was not an attack, but discharging firearms or making loud noises like that around the head of state is usually not a good thing for anyone.
How does one discharge an unloaded firearm?`
Hold the firearm away from the body.
Pull the trigger.
Shout loudly "Bang, I say Bang old bean"

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Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Re:better a suspended SENTENCE than a suspended GU by mjwx · 2012-11-21 13:26 · Score: 2

This guy gets a suspended sentence for re-tweeting North Korean propaganda.

Yet PSY gets nothing for unleashing Gangam Style.

Worst Korea is seriously fucked up.

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Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.