[Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Sunday, November 27, 2005] An article of the Joong-Ang Ilbo, an influential daily published in Seoul, is uploaded as follows:
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Award to defector’s widow upheld
November 26, 2005 ㅡ The Seoul High Court upheld on appeal yesterday an award of 97 million won ($93,000) to the widow of an assassinated North Korean defector.
The court found the government negligent in protecting the defector, Lee Han-young, a relative by marriage of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il.
The court said that government officials providing security for Mr. Lee had disclosed information on his whereabouts to South Korean private detectives wittingly or unwittingly working for a North Korean assassination team.
Mr. Lee defected in 1982 through a South Korean office in Switzerland. He was shot to death in his apartment in 1997 in what intelligence officials here believe was the work of North Korean agents. He was taken to a hospital after the attack, but died there shortly after being admitted.
His widow, who presumably for security reasons was not identified, filed a damage suit seeking 500 million won from the government in compensation for his death. The trial court lowered that compensation in ruling for his widow. Yesterday, the High Court laid 40 percent of the blame for Mr. Lee’s death on the victim, citing his high-profile lifestyle here, which included interviews with local media despite the urging of security officials not to do so.
by Brian Lee
11-27-2005, 05:35 AM
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