So Kyong Won is a Korean farmer who became a national congressman. In 1988, as a congressman he made a secret trip to North Korea on his own, hoping to achieve a breakthrough in the process of re-unification of Korea. Upon returning, he failed to get support for his private venture. When the fact of his secret trip came to light, political hard-liners betrayed him as a spy, and used his case to create a "national security situation." He was convicted of collaboration with the enemy under the National Security Law and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Other persons who were imprisoned at the same time for separate illegal visits to North Korea have been released now, but So Kyong Won still languishes in prison for political reasons.

So Kyong Won, now 56 years old, lived most of his life as a farmer in Chonam province, in the southwest part of the Korean peninsula. He became active in the ‘70s and ‘80s in advocating the plight of farmers under South Korea’s urban-centered rapid development of that period. He was a key figure in gaining compensation for yams spoiled because of government mismanagement. The incident required a long struggle and became an inspiration to other farmers. In the mid ‘80s, he was president of the Catholic Farmers’ Movement, a groups which had not only spoken out for farmers’ rights, but also boldly criticized the injustices of the military dictatorships of the '70s and '80s. With the increased democratization following the national protests of 1986 he was able to run for congress, and was elected congressman in 1988. He had little formal schooling, but was a well-informed, outspoken person with leadership abilities.

The circumstances of his secret visit to North Korea, congressman So knew that the relative deprivation being suffered by the farmers, workers, and urban poor of South Korea, as well as its slow progress in democratization, were deeply related to the "cold war" mentality which prevailed on the Korean peninsula.

It was for this reason that he decided to make a secret trip North Korea to try to facilitate a breakthrough in relationships. Through Protestant ministers in Germany, he arranged passage to Pyongyang, and visited there for a three-day period beginning August 19, 1988. He says that he proposed to Kim Il Sung to have Cardinal Kim visit North Korea, that North Korea cease it vicious broadcasting at the demilitarized zone, that the North and South gradually open up their military installations to each other, and that North Korea desist in its father-son inheritance of North Korean leadership. Actually, just about two months before Congressman So’s secret visit, South Korean president No Tae Woo declared that the North and the South were related as "companions." This was part of his "north policy" of thawing out South Korea’s cold relations with China, Russia and North Korea. After the secret visit, Congressman So met with some political and religious associates, including Cardinal Kim. Evidently, though, he couldn’t get their open support. Cardinal Kim advised him to make his secret visit public.

Meanwhile, other persons also made secret visits to North Korea. The well-known democratization and social justice activists, the Protestant minister Mun Ik Hwan, made a secret visit in March of 1989, and immediately made it public, and in June national Students Organization announced it had sent one of its officers to North Korea to take part in a student festival. Hard-liners decided it was time for a crackdown. When Congressman So’s political party decided that his visit should be made public, he turned himself in to the national security agency. Through the newspapers, the hard-liners portrayed him as a spy, and the national security agency arrested those who had known of his visit but did not report it, with the exception of Cardinal Kim. The hard-liners were successful in creating a "national security situation" with the result that So Kyong Won’s political party felt they had to expel him. The hard-liners were attempting to link the leader of the party, Kim Dae Jung, to the case. Ultimately, So Kyong Won was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of having taken orders and funds from North Korea. To many, the evidence presented was far The National Security Law

If there were no national security law and no politically constructed "national security situation," Congressman So’s offense would have been merely an illegal visit to North Korea. The national security law has often been used as an instrument in politically motivated convictions in South Korea, even up to the present year.

The most realistic action on behalf of So Kyong Won is to advocate his release through the periodic presidential amnesties occurring on national holidays. The other illegal visitors to North Korea of that time have already been released.