South Korea‘s court on Thursday ordered the Defense Ministry to hand over a controversial video created for educating children about national security, ruling in favor of a civic group that demanded to review what reportedly contained numerous graphic footage.

The Seoul Administrative Court said that it was illegal for the ministry to withhold the video in question, which reportedly included footage such as forced abortion and harsh torture conducted by the North Korean military.

In 2014, an officer from Capital Defense Command showed the video to the elementary school students as part of education on national security. Upon seeing the graphic images, some students reportedly burst into tears, while some left the classroom.

Upon hearing the news, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy requested to review the video but was denied permission by the ministry citing security reasons. It then filed a petition against the ministry last July.

“Though the case is related to national security, it is hard to say that the video contains any information that could hamper the two Koreas’ relations or national interest,” the court said. The court noted that the video should be released because it can lead to a constructive debate over security education.

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)