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South Korean man indicted over North Korea retweet, facing seven years in jail

South Korean man indicted over North Korea retweet, facing seven years in jail

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A South Korean man could be facing up to seven years in jail for ironically retweeting a message from the North Korean government's Twitter feed. Praising North Korea is illegal in the South.

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A South Korean man could be facing up to seven years in jail for retweeting messages from North Korea. Park Jeong-Geun, 24, broadcast the message "Long Live Kim Jong-il," which originated from @uriminzok, an account that the North Korean government has been using since 2010. Mr Park, however, is a member of the Socialist Party of South Korea, known for its anti-North views, and claims he was acting in satire. Amnesty International is calling for his release, accusing the South Korean government of "failing to understand sarcasm," in a country where the National Security Law makes praise of its isolated, communist neighbor a criminal act. The @uriminzok account is frequently retweeted by Korean users, though, meaning incidents like this may become increasingly difficult to police.