Interest Groups Duel on First Day of Song Trial  

by Jeon Suyong (jsy@chosun.com)

The trial of Song Du-yul, the sociologist and longtime
resident of Germany arrested on charges of violating the
National Security Law, opened Tuesday at the Seoul District
Court. 
"I've really been waiting for this day," Song said during his
opening statement. "The people and the whole world are
watching this trial, one opening in a tense situation where
the old and the new are in collision." 

"In Greek there's a word, ‘epoche,’ which refers to 'turning
point' and means 'momentary stop.' Right now I'm held in a
space only the size of a pyeong, but am taking it as
preparation for a new beginning," he added, in reference to
the size of his prison cell. One pyeong is 3.3 square meters.


The presiding judge had to tell some in the audience to stop
applauding at one point during the proceedings, and later the
trial was temporarily stopped when members of the Korean
Veterans Association called Song a "commie" and yelled other
obscenities. 

Song's defense took issue with each phrase of the
prosecution's charges. His attorney, Kim Hyeong-tae, cited how
rules of the North Korean Workers' Party state specific means
of choosing alternative members of the politburo, and noted
that the charges failed to state when and how Song was
allegedly chosen for the position. The prosecution responded
only that it this would be revealed during the course of the
trial. 

While confirming issues relating to Song's person, prosecutors
asked if he is "currently employed as a visiting professor at
Munster University," to which Song responded "That's
professor, not visiting professor. The system's different and
[his academic position] can't be translated into Korean." 

When asked if he'd ever received "instructions" from
Pyongyang, he demanded the prosecution "correct [the record]
to say I received ‘messages,’ not ‘instructions’." 

Song denied most of the charges. 

Before the trial, a local organization working in Song's
defense delivered a petition to the court signed by about 920
persons, many of whom were scholars of Korean studies from
around the world. A group calling itself the "Emergency
Meeting to Maintain Security" and composed of members of the
veterans association and other groups issued a statement
calling for "strict and heavy punishment for North Korean
operative Song Du-yul, in accordance with the law." 

Song was arrested on November 20 and charged with being an
"alternative member" of the Politburo of North Korea's
Workers' Party and, during the course of 22 visits to
Pyongyang since 1973, of receiving orders to spread the
North's official ideology at academic conferences and through
scholarly writings.