ID :
37429
Thu, 12/25/2008 - 20:42
Auther :

Convicted N. Korean spy attempts suicide

SEOUL, Dec. 25 (Yonhap) -- A convicted female North Korean spy attempted suicide in her prison cell but it caused no medical problem to her life, prison officials said Thursday.

Won Jeong-hwa, 34, was arrested in August on spy charges, three years after
military investigators began monitoring her following a report from a South
Korean military officer that she had approached him for sensitive information.
She was subsequently convicted of violating the National Security Law and
sentenced to five years in prison. She did not appeal the ruling.
On Tuesday, she tried to take her own life by hanging at Suwon Prison, 46
kilometers south of Seoul, but was stopped by prison guards.
According to prison officials, Won has been showing signs of depression in recent
weeks after seeing her daughter.
"She was greatly tormented due to worries over the safety of her family in North
Korea and longing for her daughter," one prison official said.
Won came to Seoul, posing herself as a North Korean defector and has since handed
over information on South Korean military installation and other defectors to
North Korean agents in China.

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