South Korean professor charged with praising North Korean leaders

A retired South Korean professor is to be tried for praising former leaders of communist neighbour North Korea, a report said on Friday.

The man, identified only by the common surname Kim, was indicted after posting articles on the internet between 2009 and 2012 that praised North Korean state founder Kim Il Sung and his successor Kim Jong Il, the report said.

The accused also delivered a lecture in support of North Korea’s atomic programme in 2014, and reportedly met North Korean agents at a forum in China in 2004, according to prosecutors.

South Korea’s National Security Law bans its nationals from making contact with citizens of the North without permission it also prohibits them from undertaking activities that benefit the North.

The Korean War of 1950-53 ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty, leaving North and South Korea in a technical state of war .