North Korea's e-mail order, "The Itaewon disaster, unleash anger."

A former KCTU official who was sentenced to heavy punishment in the first trial for spying under North Korean orders was found to have been ordered by North Korea to "express the anger of all walks of life in the wake of the Itaewon disaster."

The Suwon District Court sentenced Seok, the former head of the organizing dispute bureau of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, to 15 years in prison on the 6th on charges of violating the National Security Law.

In about 30 pages of the 239-page first trial ruling, the court listed evidence of Seok's collection of state secrets, including video of him contacting North Korean agents overseas from 2017, exchanging orders and reports, and filming the facilities of the U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek.

Among them was an e-mail order that Seok received from an agent of the North Korean Cultural Exchange Bureau in November 2022, shortly after the Itaewon disaster, saying, "We hope to actively carry out organizational projects to maximize the anger of all walks of life, focusing on creating a situation like the one in Ferry Sewol."

The first trial court convicted Seok and said, "It is impossible for a North Korean agent to issue an order in mourning for the bereaved families of the Itaewon disaster," adding, "The defendant was well aware of this situation but agreed to the goal of overthrowing the Korean system for a long time."