Followed N korea on Twitter ‘not a crime’

A South Korean man charged for following a Twitter feed of North Korean propaganda was acquitted, a report said.

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Seoul - A South Korean man charged for following a Twitter feed of North Korean propaganda was acquitted, a news report said.

The 73-year-old former journalist, identified only by the last name Lee, had followed the Twitter account of North Korea’s main propaganda website Uriminzokkiri, or “only by Korean ourselves,” the South’s Yonhap News Agency reported.

But the court said there was no indication Lee had retweeted or commented on any of the account’s posts.

Just following the account did not breach South Korea’s National Security Law, which prohibits citizens from supporting the North, the report said.

But Lee was given a suspended one-year prison sentence for posting pro-Pyongyang writings on his blog in November 2009, it said.

DPA