SEOUL A former student activist was Jan. 25 sentenced to four years in prison for making an unauthorized visit to North Korea in 1998 to participate in celebrations marking the Aug. 15 National Day of Independence in Pyongyang.

The Seoul District Court handed down the prison term to Kim Dae-won, a student activist attending Konkuk University, stating that he was found guilty of violating the National Security Law, which bans South Koreans from engaging in pro-North Korean activities and from visiting the Communist country without prior approval by the authorities.

The sentence was given in the absence of Kim, who refused to stand trial in protest of the prosecution’s move to incriminate him under the draconian National Security Law.

Kim was found to have traveled to North Korea several times as representative of the outlawed Federation of Korean College and University Student Association, or better known in Korean as Hanchongyon.

``We discovered that Kim made several unauthorized visits to the North without approval from the government. He was found guilty because he traveled to the North as representative of Hanchongyon, which is an enemy group in South Korea,’’ the court said.

The court added that the visit by the accused to the North was illegal under the National Security Law, which is still in effect.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) brought charges against Kim in August 2000, when he returned home after staying in North Korea for one year.

Some civic groups, as well as Hanchongyon, denounced the sentence, saying that the judiciary is still trying to crack down on students and people who have actively engaged in activities designed to speed up unification of the divided nation.
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