South Korean Man Gets 14-Month Jail Term for Praising North in Poem

A South Korean court sentenced a 68-year-old man to 14 months in jail for praising North Korea in a poem. The poem by Lee Yoon-seop advocated for unification and was published in North Korea's state media in 2016, BBC reported citing South Korean media reports.

Lee Yoon-seop was convicted under a law that prohibits public praise of North Korea.(AP)

In its ruling, a Seoul court said as per the Korea Herald that Lee Yoon-seop “continued to generate and disseminate a considerable amount of propaganda that glorified and praised the North.”

Lee Yoon-seop wrote in his poem that if the two Koreas were united under Pyongyang's socialist system, people would get free housing, healthcare and education.