A South Korean court recently ordered the state to compensate two former fishermen who were wrongly convicted of violating the state's security and anti-communism law after they were abducted by North Korea in the 1970s.
The Suncheon branch of the Gwangju District Court ordered compensation for the 82-year-old plaintiff and the bereaved family of the other fisherman. The two plaintiffs were accused of violating the National Security Act and the now-defunct anti-communism law in 1973, but the charges were cleared in a 2024 retrial.
The two men were kidnapped by a North Korean vessel while fishing on their boats in August 1971. Despite them saying their crossing of the military demarcation line was due to them being kidnapped, the South Korean court sentenced them to a suspended jail term and suspended their fishing licenses for three years.
The retrial confirmed that they were indeed kidnapped by the North Korean ships that threatened to open fire on them, and that they were illegally detained during the investigation by the South Korean officials before their arrest warrants were issued.
The surviving plaintiff will receive 36 million won ($26,000), with varying levels of financial compensation to be paid to 10 bereaved family members of the deceased fisherman.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
![[Exclusive] Ateez to return in November](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/02/news-p.v1.20260902.76162fb0ba55493aad1c076f240d0750_R.jpg?type=h&h=120)