South Korea to deport American author who 'praised North Korean beer'
California resident Shin Eun-mi, who wrote travel piece for Seoul website, also praised cleanliness of North Korea's rivers
South Korea plans to deport a Korean-American woman accused of praising rival North Korea in a recent lecture, officials said Friday, in the latest in a series of cases that critics say infringe on freedom of speech.
The Korea Immigration Service decided to deport Shin Eun-mi, a California resident, after determining that her comments violated South Korea’s Security Law, agency official Kim Du-yeol said.
He declined to say when she would be deported, citing privacy issues.
Shin posted stories about her trips to North Korea on OhmyNews, a popular South Korean online news site. Her book on her trips was included in a government-designated reading list in 2013, but the culture ministry removed it this week amid criticism of it.
Ministry officials said they will seek to retrieve 1,200 copies that were distributed to libraries across South Korea.
During a November lecture in Seoul, Shin said many North Korean defectors living in South Korea had told her they want to go back home and that North Koreans hope new leader Kim Jong-un will bring change. She also praised the taste of North Korean beer and the cleanliness of North Korea’s rivers.
The Korean Peninsula remains technically in a state of war, split along the world’s most heavily fortified border, because the 1950-53 Korean war ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
