South Korea: US Citizen Deported for Exercising Free Speech

The government of South Korea has deported a US citizen because of things she said about trips she had taken to North Korea.  

The New York Times reports that the Shin Eun-mi, 54, is being deported for her actions during a series of lectures in the second half of 2014.

The lectures revolved around three trips Shin took to North Korea between 2011 and 2013. Shin is accused of singing a North Korean song praising their previous leader, Kim Jong-il. She also said that she enjoyed North Korean beer and some defectors who left North Korea for the South sometimes miss the North.

Shin's deportation is taking place under the National Security Law, which makes it a crime to participate in, "activities benefitting the enemy." The law has been criticized by the United States government, a crucial and close South Korean ally, because the wording is so vague that the law could possibly be abused.

The law has not been used to file formal charges against Shin, but it was used as the basis for her deportation, which means that Shin cannot visit her homeland for the next five years.

Shin was born in South Korea and immigrated to the United States after completing college and eventually earned US citizenship.

North Korea has previously been the subject of international condemnation and headlines over its efforts to prevent the release of the Sony Pictures film, "The Interview." Many said that North Korea was trying to subvert the free expression of the free world.

This makes the South Korean decision to deport someone over their speech a bit ironic, because South Korea is held up as a liberal and democratic society that supports human rights and free expression in opposition to the tyranny of North Korea.