North Korea in a recent lecture, officials said Friday, in the latest in a series of cases that critics say infringe on freedom of speech.The Korea Immigration Service decided to deport Shin Eun-mi, a Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, resident, after determining that her comments violated South Koreas Security Law, agency official Kim Du-yeol said. He declined to say when she would be deported, citing privacy issues.
The Korean Peninsula remains technically in a state of war, split along the worlds most heavily fortified border, because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. In South Korea, praising North Korea can be punished by up to seven years in prison under the Security Law.
Critics have urged that the law be scrapped, saying it violates freedom of expression. Supporters argue that it is needed because of continuing threats from North Korea. Past authoritarian leaders in South Korea frequently used the law to suppress political rivals.
Shin posted stories about her trips to North Korea on OhmyNews, a popular South Korean online news site. Her book on her trips was included in a government-designated reading list in 2013, but the culture ministry removed it this week amid criticism of it. Ministry officials said they will seek to retrieve 1,200 copies that were distributed to libraries across South Korea.
During a November lecture in Seoul, Shin said many North Korean defectors living in South Korea had told her they want to go back home and that North Koreans hope new leader Kim
PudgeJong-un
...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished...
will bring change. She also praised the taste of North Korean beer and the cleanliness of North Koreas rivers.
Shin has said she had no intention of praising the country and was only expressing what she felt during her travels there.