Woo Yong-gak (29 November 1929 – 7 December 2012)[1] was a North Koreancommando who was released from incarceration in South Korea on 25 February 1999.[2]
Woo was captured during a North Korean commando raid in South Korea's east coast waters in 1958 while he participated as one of the raiders.[6]
Imprisonment
Purpose
After his conviction of espionage for North Korea, Woo was sentenced to life imprisonment.[7] South Korea claimed that he had been leading a group of spies.[8] Throughout his imprisonment he refused to sign an oath of obedience to South Korea's National Security Law, which bans the display or expression of any pro-North Korean sentiment.[9]
South Korean law specifies solitary confinement for spies, even if they pose no physical threat.[11]
Woo was held in solitary confinement in a 12-by-12-foot cell since his capture aboard a North Korean boat.[12] The terms of his imprisonment permitted 30 minutes of daily exercise with other prisoners.[9] In 1998, he was said to be "missing all his teeth because of years of torture, poor food, and inadequate medical treatment".[13] In 1999, prior to his release, he was reported to be suffering from a degree of muscular paralysis resulting from a stroke.[14]
Release and repatriation
Woo was among 17 long-term detainees released under a wider amnesty to mark President Kim Dae-jung's first year in office.[15] As a 70-year-old man, he walked free from the gates of Daejeon prison.[16] It was proposed that he be allowed to return to North Korea, where he had a wife and son,[17] in exchange for South Korean prisoners of war.[18] He returned to North Korea, though not in exchange for any imprisoned South Koreans, in early September 2000,[19][20] and was immediately awarded the National Reunification Prize.[21]
