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``Suspicious Death`` Firstly Recognized as Murder Case

Posted June. 25, 2001 20:02,   

The Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths (Chair Yang Seung-Kyu) announced yesterday that Park Young-Doo, then 29, who mysteriously died at Chong-Song Prison in North Kyungsang Province in 1984, was ascertained that he had been killed by guards’ violence.

The commission decided to present Park’s case to the government for a consideration of compensation and to retrieve his honor recognizing that the case was related to the democracy movement since he was killed by the misuse of the public power and he had protested against infringement of human-right.

It is the first case in which a conspicuous death case has been recognized as a murder case.

Mr.Park, who had been in the 1980 Samchong Kyoouk Camp, was accused of a mob violence and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In the Chong-Song prison, he died a day after the guards had beaten and tortured him when he asked the guards for a better treatment against inmates on October 13th, 1984.

However, instead of prosecuting the guard, the commission only revealed names of the four guards who had beaten Mr. Park saying that the statute of limitations on the criminal act has already expired.

The commission said that they rejected the case of Kim Je-Kang (then 52), who was told that he had been killed by the Central Intelligence Agency (current National Intelligence Service) in 1977, saying that Mr. Kim died of an illness.



Yang Ki-Dae kee@donga.com