Top court acquits five in prominent rebellion case

The top court on Thursday acquitted five people who were wrongly incarcerated for up to seven years for rebellion in the 1980s in a retrial of the prominent case that inspired a local box-office hit about late former President Roh Moo-hyun.

The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that cleared the five ― Go Ho-seok, Seol Dong-il, No Jae-yeol, Choi Jun-yeong and Lee Jin-gol ― formerly convicted in the so-called “Burim” case.

In the case, the administration of then-President Chun Doo-hwan illegally detained and tortured 22 university students, school teachers and salaried workers who were members of a social-science study group on rebellion charges in 1981 to suppress pro-democracy activists and secure the foundation for his dictatorial regime.

Nineteen of them received jail sentences ranging from one to seven years on rebellion charges with their sentences confirmed by the top court in 1983.

For ex-President Roh, who took on the case while serving as a lawyer, the incident was a turning point in his life, as he became a human rights lawyer. This was the main plot of the 2013 movie “The Attorney,” which attracted 11 million people in South Korea to theaters.

The five victims filed for a retrial with the Busan District Court in August 2012. The court accepted the request and acquitted them of rebellion charges in a retrial held in February. (Yonhap)