By Moon Gwang-lip
Staff Reporter


Police have decided to investigate Dongguk University professor Kang Jeong-koo on suspicion of violating the National Security Law by making pro-North Korean remarks.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) said on Wednesday that it requested the 60-year-old sociology professor appear at the agency tomorrow for investigation.

The agency added that it plans to take legal action against Kang for his remarks on the 1950-53 Korean War.

``If he refuses to comply with our request, we will seek an arrest warrant for him,’’ an SMPA official said.

``Still, we have yet to decide whether to arrest him,’’ he added.

Last month, Kang stirred up controversy in the nation, which still does not guarantee freedom of expression regarding the North, by claiming that the Korean War should be regarded as a ``war for unification,’’ similar to North Korean propaganda.

``No South Korean history textbook depicts Wang Kon and Kyon Hwon as invaders. Wang is rather revered as a great king who worked for unification,’’ Kang said on an Internet news site.

Wang (A.D. 877-943) was the founder of the Koryo Dynasty (918-1392), unifying the three kingdoms split from the Silla Kingdom after defeating Kyon of Hupaekche.

Kang’s remark triggered immediate protests from conservative groups that denounced him as a worshiper of North Korea.

Recently, around 820 members of 23 conservative civic groups, including Freedom Builders, lodged a complaint against Kang with the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office as well as the SMPA.

``Kang made the pro-North Korean assertion to incite civil strife and overturn the country,’’ they said in the complaint.

In August 2001, he got into trouble for making pro-North Korean remarks when he visited Mangyongdae, the birthplace of late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.

He was indicted for writing in the guest book, ``Let’s accomplish the great task of national unification by cherishing the spirit of Mangyongdae.’’ He was then released on bail.

However, Kim Jeong-in, a professor at Chuncheon National University of Education and an executive member of the National Association of Professors for Democratic Society (NAPDS), said that what police are doing against Kang does not make sense at all.

``This is the least expected thing in a society which claims to have the freedom of expression,’’ Kim said.

``The National Security Law is only allowed to restrict activities giving direct harm to Korea. And Kang’s remark just came while he tried to explain his academic research,’’ she added.

Kim went on to say, ``Kang may have leaned toward a certain direction in his philosophy, but that is something which should be reflected on and criticized through academic discussion, not through legal action.’’

Kim and members of five professors’ groups, including the NAPDS, issued a statement last week calling on law enforcement authorities not to apply the National Security Law against Kang.

joseph@koreatimes.co.kr