dec 27th
what other countries do when someone makes anti-national remarks.
but in india, an antinational, china- or pakistan-worshipping person is considered a hero.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: V.
dear rajeev
one university in Korea has suspended its Prof for his
pro North Korean remarks. no one is shouting for
'right to express' and 'freedom of opinion' and etc
but for the suspended Prof.
ravi
University to Suspend Prof. Kang
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200512/kt2005122617082510220.htm
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Dongguk University has decided to suspend sociology
professor Kang Jeong-koo Monday, saying he abused his
position at the school with his controversial remarks
that some claim are pro-North Korean.
The 60-year-old Kang is currently awaiting a court
trial after he posted an article on the Internet
earlier this year, which defended the North Korean
invasion of the South during the 1950-53 Korean War as
a `` campaign for reunification.¡¯¡¯
The prosecution indicted Kang last month for the
violation of the National Security Law.
The decision to suspend Kang came after Dongguk
University president Hong Ki-sam summoned a faculty
meeting Monday morning to discuss the disciplinary
measures against the professor.
While acknowledging that Kang had the right to speak
his mind, university authorities proceeded with his
suspension, stating that he abused his academic
position for non-educational purposes that eventually
damaged the school¡¯s image.
In an interview with radio broadcaster CBS, Kang
criticized the decision of faculty members.
``Dongguk University had failed to protect the freedom
for one to speak according to his own beliefs. It has
also failed to provide an opportunity for me to defend
myself against the charges by turning a blind eye to
the principle that one is `innocent until proven
guilty,¡¯¡¯¡¯ said Kang.
Korean law covering private educational institutes
grant privately owned schools the authority to suspend
or dismiss faculty members facing criminal charges.
The suspension will relieve Kang from all of his
campus responsibilities and make him ineligible to
receive financial support from the university.
However, Kang will be immediately reinstated if the
court drops the charges against him. Kang¡¯s next
trial is scheduled for Feb. 3.
Kang, never a stranger to controversy due to his
radical political views, posted an article on an
Internet news site in July, which defended North
Korea¡¯s invasion of the South during the Korean War
as a campaign for the unification of the peninsula
divided after World War II.
He also condemned the U.S. intervention during the
war, claiming that it increased civilian casualties
and solidified the political division of the two
Koreas.
Kang is also on trial for public remarks he made
during his 2001 visit to Pyongyang, when he visited
Mangyongdae, the birthplace of North Korea¡¯s founding
leader Kim Il-sung, and wrote a commemorative message
that said ``let¡¯s achieve the great task of national
unification by inheriting the spirit of
Mankyongdae.¡¯¡¯
Dongguk University had dismissed Kang from his
university post in December 2001 shortly after he was
arrested for his Pyongyang remarks, but reinstated him
the following year after his court trial was
temporarily suspended.
Kang¡¯s case erupted into a major dispute in October,
when Justice Minister Chun Jung-bae issued a directive
to the prosecutor¡¯s office not detain Kang,
overruling the prosecution¡¯s earlier plans to take
him into custody.
It was the first time for a justice minister to
exercise ministerial power over the prosecution in an
individual case, although the Constitution ensures the
authority of the ministry over the prosecutor¡¯s
office.
Then Prosecutor General Kim Jong-bin resigned in
protest against the directive which many prosecutors
claimed infringed on the independence and political
neutrality of their office.
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