South Korean Court Rules That Following North Korea On Twitter Is Not A Crime

A 73-year-old South Korean man was accused of distributing pro-North Korea propaganda after he followed the country's official account on the social network. Prosecutors alleged the former journalist, identified only as Lee, was sympathizing with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's communist kingdom -- an illegal act under South Korean law.

South Korea's controversial National Security Law criminalizes "anti-state" acts and forbids citizens from supporting the North in any context. But because Lee didn't retweet any posts, he was found not guilty of sharing or distributing North Korean content and was acquitted, The Guardian reports.

But even if his Twitter profile didn't land him behind bars, his personal blog did. The Korea Times reports Lee was sentenced to a year in jail anyway for praising the North on his blog years ago. Cont.

Story from - Huffington Post
Image from - Personeelsnet - Flickr
cc 2.0