SEOUL: A South Korean court today overturned a 35-year old conviction of spying for North Korea against a family of eight, two of whom were executed in the early 1980s.
The district court in the eastern city of Chuncheon ruled that the eight had been illegally detained and then tortured to extract confessions, the Yonhap news agency reported.
“There is no admissible evidence for finding them guilty,” the court ruled.
The eight were arrested and convicted in 1979 on charges of being recruited by a North Korean spy, organising an underground espionage ring and conveying military secrets to the North.
Two were sentenced to death and executed in 1983. Two others received life sentences — finally being released under a general pardon in 1998 — and four were jailed for up to 10 years.
