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Korean American woman to be deported for alleged pro-NK remarks

January 7, 2015

Shin Eun-mi will be barred from entering South Korea for five years

Shin Eun-mi will be forced to leave Korea this week. (Yonhap)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — Prosecutors have decided to deport a Korean American woman accused of making pro-North Korea remarks at a series of talk shows she hosted in South Korea, prosecution sources said Tuesday.

Shin Eun-mi, 54, allegedly made comments sympathetic to Pyongyang alongside her South Korean co-host Hwang Sun at on-stage talk shows they hosted from November to December last year. Local conservative groups filed a complaint with police in November, accusing them violating of Seoul’s National Security Law.

In South Korea, anyone who attempts to praise, encourage or propagandize North Korean ideals is punishable under the law.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Shin will be deported before Friday when the temporary exit ban imposed on her is set to expire. She will be barred from entering South Korea for the next five years.

Shin had planned to leave South Korea on Dec. 12 but was grounded a day before her departure for failing to comply with a police inquiry.

Since then, police have asked prosecutors to indict the woman, but prosecutors said they have decided to deport her instead.

They will summon her once more on Wednesday in what could be a final questioning session. A source within the prosecution said there was still a chance that she could be indicted under South Korean law.

“Depending on the outcome, we may change our decision,” the source said, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are also considering seeking an arrest warrant for Hwang, the co-host, on the same charges.

The 40-year-old allegedly made endorsements of former and incumbent North Korean leaders on a South Korean Internet broadcasting station. She was also found to be active in a group South Korea has dubbed “anti-state,” according to police.