Man Imprisoned 40 Years Ago for Owning 'Das Kapital' Exonerated in Retrial

Man Imprisoned 40 Years Ago for Owning ‘Das Kapital’ Exonerated in Retrial

On October 28, 2025, the Seoul Southern District Court, Criminal Division 14 (Judge Kim Gil-ho), acquitted Jeong Jin-tae (72) of violating the National Security Law. Jeong had been sentenced to imprisonment over 40 years ago for possessing Karl Marx's 'Das Kapital.' This ruling re-examines the oppressive application of the law during the authoritarian era and underscores the significance of individual freedom of thought and expression. It also serves as a moment of reflection on past instances where the National Security Law was broadly applied, infringing on individual freedoms and rights, and emphasizes the importance of strict legal application and human rights protection. Jeong endured injustice for over 40 years, but this retrial has finally cleared his name. This case is significant for restoring the honor of an individual who suffered due to past misapplication of the law and for realizing justice. Furthermore, this ruling is expected to positively influence requests for retrials and efforts to uncover the truth in similar past cases. The court's decision reflects on human rights violations during the past authoritarian regime and serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting individual freedoms and rights in a democratic society. Continuous efforts must be made to uncover the truth about past events and provide remedies for victims. In February 1983, Jeong Jin-tae was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for possessing seditious materials, including Karl Marx's 'Das Kapital.' Considering the circumstances of the time, merely possessing books such as 'Das Kapital' often led to charges and punishment under the National Security Law. This illustrates a dark side of the past where freedom of thought and expression was suppressed. Jeong suffered social stigma and mental anguish for a long time afterward. This retrial was an important process to correct this past wrongful judgment and restore the individual's honor. In particular, applying the National Security Law and punishing someone simply for possessing academic books like 'Das Kapital' has been criticized as an excessive application of the law. This acquittal can be interpreted as the court's response to this criticism and is expected to have a significant impact on future court decisions in similar cases. This case demonstrates that the legacy of the past authoritarian era still remains in various parts of society, suggesting that continuous efforts are needed to settle past grievances and protect human rights. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) classified the case as a human rights violation and made a decision to investigate and determine the truth. The TRC aims to investigate and determine the truth about human rights violations committed by state power in the past, restore the honor of victims, and contribute to social integration through settling past grievances. The TRC's decision to investigate the truth of Jeong's case officially acknowledges the human rights violation caused by the unfair application of the National Security Law and carries the meaning of consoling the victim's suffering. The TRC's decision was an important basis for the court's decision to initiate a retrial and played a decisive role in leading to this acquittal. In addition, the TRC revealed that Jeong was subjected to illegal detention and torture during the investigation process and recommended that the state acknowledge its responsibility for this. This carries the meaning of urging the state to reflect on and apologize for human rights violations during the past authoritarian era and emphasizes the need to further strengthen efforts to uncover the truth about similar past cases and provide remedies for victims. The TRC's activities are playing an important role in correcting past mistakes and moving forward to the future. Jeong was arrested on February 15, 1983, and investigated while illegally detained for 23 days until March 9. During this period, it was revealed that Jeong was subjected to torture, including beatings, and forced to make false confessions. This clearly shows how inadequate the human rights awareness of the investigative authorities was at the time. Illegal detention and torture are acts that seriously infringe on the freedom of the body and human dignity guaranteed by the Constitution. These past wrongful investigative practices must be eradicated and thorough monitoring and education are needed to prevent them from recurring. Only after a long time had passed was Jeong able to appeal his grievances through the TRC's investigation, and he was finally acquitted through a court retrial. This ruling gives hope to victims who have suffered due to past wrongful practices of investigative authorities and once again emphasizes the importance of protecting human rights in the law enforcement process. In the future, investigative authorities must conduct investigations fairly and transparently in accordance with the law and principles, and constantly strive to prevent human rights violations. The court decided to retry the case, pointing out the problems in the past investigation process and judging that Jeong should be given the opportunity to receive a fair trial. A retrial is a system that reopens a trial to investigate the truth and realize justice if a serious error is found in a judgment that has already been finalized. In Jeong's case, the fact that there was illegal detention and torture during the past investigation process, and that the false confession obtained through this was used as decisive evidence for the guilty verdict, was an important basis for the retrial decision. The court acknowledged these problems and decided to retry the case to provide Jeong with another opportunity to prove his innocence. This retrial decision is significant for correcting the wrongful judgments of the past authoritarian era and restoring the individual's honor. In addition, the court re-examined the problems in the past investigation process through the retrial and emphasized the importance of protecting human rights in the law enforcement process. In the future, the court must actively strive to correct past wrongful judgments and realize social justice. The prosecution requested an acquittal for Jeong in the final hearing. This can be interpreted as the prosecution itself acknowledging the errors of the past investigation process and striving to realize justice. The prosecution reflected on past cases where the National Security Law was excessively applied, infringing on individual freedoms and rights, and sought to resolve Jeong's injustice through this retrial. The prosecution's request for acquittal had a positive impact on the court's acquittal, and this ruling can be seen as an evaluation of the prosecution's efforts to settle past grievances. In addition, the prosecution must continue to actively strive to uncover the truth about past cases and provide remedies for victims, and further strive to protect human rights in the law enforcement process. This case is an example of the prosecution showing its efforts to correct past mistakes and restore public trust, and in the future, the prosecution must contribute to realizing social justice through fair and transparent law enforcement. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung also mentioned this trial and expressed regret over the wrongful application of the law during the past authoritarian era.