Police raid headquarters of suspected pro-N. Korean group

SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- Police and National Intelligence Service officers on Saturday raided the headquarters of a political activist group that allegedly conducted pro-North Korean activities in violation of South Korea's anti-communist security law.

Law enforcement officials armed with search warrants confiscated materials from
the Solidarity for Practice of the South-North Joint Declaration in northern
Seoul and arrested seven members.
They also searched 20 homes to gather evidence of possible wrong doing.
"The group has been under observation for airing North Korean media reports on
their Internet TV and publically releasing information about North Korea," a
police spokesman said. He added that such activities conflicted with article
seven of the country's security law that bans praising or encouraging activities
supporting North Korea and its policies.
"About 10 boxes of materials and 30 desktop computers were confiscated and will
be examined in detail," he said.
Branch offices of the group in Busan and Gwangju are also being searched.
The Solidarity was formed in October 2000 after the leaders of the two Koreas
held their first summit meeting four months earlier and released a joint
communique calling for peace and strengthened cooperation across the
demilitarized zone.
It has called for adherence to the spirit of the communique, more civilian
interaction between the two countries and withdrawal of U.S. troops from the
Korean Peninsula.
Progressive groups have come under pressure under the conservative Lee Myung-bak
administration which took power in February.
The president has emphasized reciprocity when providing aid and stressed that
North Korea must end its nuclear ambitions. The impoverished country detonated a
crude nuclear device in October 2006.