A South Korean man has been indicted on charges of making an unauthorized trip to North Korea in November 2014, Seoul prosecutors said Monday.
The 53-year-old man, only identified by his surname Ma, allegedly entered the communist country by way of China on Nov. 28, in violation of the National Security Law, they said.
The draconian law prohibits South Korean citizens from visiting the North without prior permission, as well as from praising the North.
During his one-month trip, Ma asked to live in the communist regime but Pyongyang repatriated him to his home country, prosecutors said.
He returned to the South on Dec. 26 by walking across the border at the truce village of Panmunjom and was immediately arrested by Seoul’s intelligence agency for questioning about his activities in the North.
Ma could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of sneaking into the North, according to prosecutors. (Yonhap)
