Seo Min-ho (徐珉濠, April 27, 19031 – January 24, 1974, died in Seoul, Republic of Korea) was a South Korean politician. He was from the Icheon Seo clan and was born in Goheung County, South Jeolla Province.
Education
- 1928: Bachelor's degree in political science and economics, Waseda University, Japan
- 1935: Master of Arts in political science, Graduate School of Political and Social Science, Columbia University, United States (MA degree)
Career
- Native of Goheung County, South Jeolla Province
- Studied in the United States at Wesleyan University
- Master's degree from Columbia University, United States
- Imprisoned in Hamhung Prison due to the Korean Language Society incident
- August 16, 1945: First mayor of Gwangju2
- September 1, 1945: Amid the chaos of the liberation period, he attempted to suppress leftist figures and was briefly jailed in Gwangju Prison, and was released in mid-September after the presence of the US Army Military Government was confirmed.
- 1945: President of Joseon Electric Company
- January 1946: Reappointed mayor of Gwangju; at that time, the Governor of South Jeolla Province and the Korean Advisory Council of the Military Government as well as the Hanguk Democratic Party opposed his appointment as mayor.
- 1946: While serving as Governor of South Jeolla Province, he led the establishment of Chosun University together with Park Cheol-ung3
- May 10, 1948: Lost in the 1948 National Assembly election for (Goheung-eul, South Jeolla)
- Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee of the National Assembly
- 5th Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives
- Supreme Committee member of the Liberal Party
- Party Affairs Committee member of the Democratic Party (Minjeong)
- In 1965, while serving as a member of the 6th National Assembly, he resigned from the National Assembly in opposition to the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and South Korea. On May 10, 1966, the Minsa Party held an inaugural assembly and elected Seo as its representative Supreme Committee chairman, and issued a founding statement adopting partial inter-Korean exchanges, such as exchange of letters and exchanges of journalists and cultural figures, as the party's unification policy. At the expanded party founding convention on May 27, 1966, Seo called for the abolition of the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and South Korea and the withdrawal of Korean troops from South Vietnam, and at the same time stated, "If I come to power, I am prepared to meet and confront Kim Il Sung of North Korea, through international organizations or otherwise." One week later, on June 3, Seo was arrested on charges of violating the Anti-Communist Act.4 The court acquitted him on the parts concerning inter-Korean exchange and opposition to sending troops to South Vietnam, but found him guilty regarding the part about meeting with Kim Il Sung, on the grounds that "he elevated the leader of an anti-state organization to a position equal to his own, thereby treating North Korea, an anti-state organization, on an equal footing with the Republic of Korea, a legitimate government." Accordingly, on December 27, 1966, the Seoul Criminal District Court (Judge Shin Nam-sik) sentenced Seo to two years in prison and two years of suspension of qualifications.5
On October 17, 1970, the appellate division of the Seoul Civil District Court, which had sentenced Seo at first instance to two years in prison and two years of suspension of qualifications for advocating opposition to the dispatch of troops to South Vietnam and inter-Korean exchanges by journalists, athletes and others, acquitted him, reasoning that "the defendant's act falls under Article 4, Paragraph 1 of the Anti-Communist Act, but in applying the Anti-Communist Act, when an anti-communist politician makes political statements on matters belonging to so-called high-level acts of government, such as unification, the dispatch of troops to South Vietnam, and inter-Korean exchange, insofar as such statements are considered not to deny the basic order of the Korean Constitution, which is founded on liberal democracy, the illegality is excluded as a justifiable act under Article 20 of the Criminal Act."
Earlier, Choi Dae-hyeon, a prosecutor of the Public Security Division of the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office, had stated that "statements recognizing North Korea as having a status equal to the Republic of Korea or as a legal subject under international law, and actions by individuals asserting matters related to national security, can by no means be regarded as justifiable acts under the Criminal Act." He said that the judgment treating the speech advocating inter-Korean exchange and a meeting with Kim Il Sung as a justifiable act "was wrong," and that "from now on, too, those who make such claims will be booked and investigated for violating the Anti-Communist Act."6
On April 14, 1967, Judge Nam Yun-ho of the Seoul Criminal District Court, ahead of the May 3 presidential election, held a press conference in Daejeon as a presidential candidate, made disrespectful remarks, and was arrested on May 8. He was released on bail on May 27. On April 17, 1972, the former leader of the Daejung Party, Seo Min-ho, was given a verdict hearing for violating the Anti-Communist Act, and the court sentenced him to one year in prison, one year of suspension of qualifications, and two years of probation.
- Supreme Committee chairman of the Daejung Party
- 2nd member of the National Assembly (Goheung-eul, South Jeolla, Independent) — Exposed the embezzlement and misappropriation of funds of the National Defense Corps; contacted a soldier regarding information on the Geochang civilian massacre that occurred during anti-guerrilla operations in rear areas by the 11th Division of the Republic of Korea Army, received materials, and expressed intent for a National Assembly-level investigation (the soldier died in an unexplained traffic accident three days later while on a business trip to Daegu, and the investigation into the Geochang civilian massacre was carried out by Representative Shin Jung-mok)
- 5th member of the National Assembly (Goheung-eul, South Jeolla, Independent)
- 6th member of the National Assembly (Yongsan, Seoul, Liberal Democratic Party)
- 7th member of the National Assembly (Goheung, South Jeolla, Daejung Party)
Further reading
- Kang Jun-man, Hanguk hyeondaesa sanchaek 1950 nyeondae pyeon 1 (Inmul gwa sasangsa, 2006)
- Chang Myon, Hanalui miri jugji anko neun (Catholic Publishing House, 1967)
- Hongwoo Publishing, Jeonggye yahwa (2 volumes) (Hongwoo Publishing, 1966)
References
Notes