Seoul arrests man using Twitter to support North Korea

The 54-year-old South Korean man, identified only as Cho, is said to have posted 100 messages and video clips in support of the regime in Pyongyang.

BEIJING // In what is believed to be the first case of its kind, the South Korean authorities have arrested and filed charges against a man for posting Twitter and other internet messages praising North Korea.

The 54-year-old South Korean man, identified only as Cho, is said by the South Korean government-affiliated Yonhap news agency to have posted 100 messages and video clips in support of the regime in Pyongyang.

Mr Cho's alleged offences took place between 2009 and October last year and involve content on his own blog, Twitter and other websites.

Postings said the sinking in March of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors and was widely blamed on North Korea, was faked by South Korea and the United States. Messages also blamed South Korea for provoking the shelling in November of Yeonpyeong Island by North Korea, in which two marines and two civilians died.

Mr Cho, who had 3,000 followers on Twitter, is said to have posted material from the official North Korean Uriminzokkiri website. He also praised the likely transfer of power from the current leader, Kim Jong-il, to his son and heir apparent, Kim Jong-un.

Activity such as this, which falls foul of South Korea's national security law banning activities or the publication of material supporting Pyongyang, is viewed as "subversion", said Alan Chong, an associate professor in the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Under the previous government, which promoted a "sunshine policy" of engagement with North Korea, similar offences might have been dealt with by a "stern warning", suggested Mr Chong.

However, under the current conservative administration of the president, Lee Myung-bak, despite there being "a very vibrant opposition", pro-Pyongyang material "cannot be tolerated", said Mr Chong, especially following the Cheonan and Yeonpyeong incidents.

"Those voices who might take a more left-wing view - 'Let's be nice to them, hopefully they will be nice to us' - this has become politically risky in the current climate," he added.

Charges were pressed against Mr Cho on Monday, two days after a separate incident in which North Korea's official Twitter account was hacked.

Messages posted on Saturday, Kim Jong-un's birthday, did not contain the usual praise for the country's leaders, but instead accused them of living comfortable lives and said they should be killed "with a sword", Yonhap reported. The official YouTube account was also reportedly hacked.

Pyongyang set up Twitter, YouTube and Facebook accounts in August last year, apparently to attract international support, since internet access within North Korea is heavily restricted. About 1,300 messages have been posted on the North Korean government Twitter account – @uriminzok – which has more than 10,000 followers.