Jang Received Award from North Korea

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the First Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office (head of division, Song Chan-yeop) obtained information on October 30 that Jang Min-ho (44, under arrest) had received the National Reunification Award (NRA) from North Korea for his contribution to reunification and the process of his awarding.

The NRA was established in July 1990. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is reported to have directly engaged in designing the medal and the certificate. Kim Yong Sun, former secretary of the North Korean Workers’ Party, and Song Ho Kyeong, former vice chairman of North Korea’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, received the award.

South Korean awardees are Reverend Moon Ik-hwan and Lim Su-kyung, former president of the National Students Representative Association. They received it when they visited North Korea.

South Korean authorities suspect that the award given to Jang is evidence verifying his activities as a spy in South Korea.

The authorities are also seeking evidence to confirm that Jang urged members of Ilsim Group, an entity which Jang organized, to join the North Korean Workers’ Party.

The NIS and the Prosecutors’ Office are deciphering an additional 40 documents seized from Jang, who wrote these to report to Pyongyang. An official of the authorities said that the documents contained activities of high-ranking officials in the political and the military circles and civic groups in South Korea.

Meanwhile, Jang’s lawyer said that he suspected the documents which the authorities seized from Jang may have been forged or damaged when they deciphered them. He added that he would react by holding joint press conference with the lawyers of those who had been arrested along with Jang.

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