ID :
22072
Wed, 10/01/2008 - 16:08
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/22072
The shortlink copeid
Prosecutors seek five-year jail term for suspected female N.K. spy
SUWON, South Korea, Oct. 1 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors on Wednesday demanded a five-year jail term for a suspected female North Korean agent who allegedly came to the South disguised as a defector.
Suwon District Prosecutors charged Won Jeong-hwa, 35, with collecting information
on South Korea's key military installations and passing it on to North Korean
agents in China.
She is also accused of gathering information on other North Koreans who defected
to the South and reporting them to North Korean officials.
"The information the accused has collected is no lighter or less than that of
past spies from the North," said Yoon Dae-hae, a prosecution official. "Although
the accused has been cooperative and penitent of her conduct, it is inevitable
that we seek a jail term for her," said one of the prosecutors.
Won, who admitted her wrongdoings in hearings, called for leniency.
"I knew what I was doing was wrong, but the reason I could not turn myself in is
because I was afraid my family in the North would be purged," Won said in her
final statement. "I acknowledge that what I have been doing is wrong. Please let
me live in South Korea with my daughter."
"I do not know what would happen to my family in the North at this moment," said
the teary-eyed defendant.
Won was arrested on Aug. 27, three years after military intelligence officials
here began monitoring her following a report from a South Korean military officer
that she approached for information. Investigators say Won exchanged sexual
favors for the information she received.
Won's key missions included locating and possibly assassinating Hwang Jang-yop, a
former secretary of North Korea's Workers' Party and the highest-ranking North
Korean to defect to the South.
North Korea last month claimed that South Korea fabricated Won's case to suppress
progressive groups and deflect blame for deteriorating inter-Korean relations.
She has submitted written statements twice to the court, admitting to the charges
against her and repenting of her past activities as a spy.
Won will remain behind bars at a Suwon detention center until sentencing on Oct. 15
ygkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
Suwon District Prosecutors charged Won Jeong-hwa, 35, with collecting information
on South Korea's key military installations and passing it on to North Korean
agents in China.
She is also accused of gathering information on other North Koreans who defected
to the South and reporting them to North Korean officials.
"The information the accused has collected is no lighter or less than that of
past spies from the North," said Yoon Dae-hae, a prosecution official. "Although
the accused has been cooperative and penitent of her conduct, it is inevitable
that we seek a jail term for her," said one of the prosecutors.
Won, who admitted her wrongdoings in hearings, called for leniency.
"I knew what I was doing was wrong, but the reason I could not turn myself in is
because I was afraid my family in the North would be purged," Won said in her
final statement. "I acknowledge that what I have been doing is wrong. Please let
me live in South Korea with my daughter."
"I do not know what would happen to my family in the North at this moment," said
the teary-eyed defendant.
Won was arrested on Aug. 27, three years after military intelligence officials
here began monitoring her following a report from a South Korean military officer
that she approached for information. Investigators say Won exchanged sexual
favors for the information she received.
Won's key missions included locating and possibly assassinating Hwang Jang-yop, a
former secretary of North Korea's Workers' Party and the highest-ranking North
Korean to defect to the South.
North Korea last month claimed that South Korea fabricated Won's case to suppress
progressive groups and deflect blame for deteriorating inter-Korean relations.
She has submitted written statements twice to the court, admitting to the charges
against her and repenting of her past activities as a spy.
Won will remain behind bars at a Suwon detention center until sentencing on Oct. 15
ygkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
