In South Korea, 'communist party' joke leads to espionage investigation

An undated photo of a placard that reads "Inaugural Korean Communist Party Family Summer Camp," displayed at a pension in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province (Online Community)

A group of vacationers inadvertently triggered a national security investigation after a photo of their gathering with a banner jokingly referring to it as a "Communist Party" meeting circulated online.

The image, which showed approximately 20 individuals including children under a banner reading "Inaugural Korean Communist Party Family Summer Camp," quickly spread across online forums, leading multiple concerned citizens to file espionage complaints with the authorities.

On Thursday, South Jeolla Province police confirmed to local media that they had been investigating these complaints. The photo in question indicated the event took place from Aug. 4 to 6 at a guesthouse in the province.

Upon investigation, the group turned out to be anything but a cell of undercover operatives. Law enforcement identified the individuals as members of a local money pooling group and their families who were simply enjoying a summer vacation together.

The "communist party" moniker, authorities learned, was an inside joke poking fun at their leader's decision-making style.

"We just thought it would be funny," one group member told local media, explaining that a friend had brought the banner as a gag prop. Authorities plan to dismiss the case without pressing charges, having determined the incident was merely an attempt at humor.

The incident serves as a reminder that in South Korea, where threats and military provocations from a heavily armed "communist" state across the border are everyday matter, jokes involving communism do not translate well.

Although South Korea is considered a free, open society with established democratic norms, the country’s state of being technically still at war with North Korea impacts various aspects of its legal and political framework -- most notably, the National Security Act.

Established in 1948 to counter threats from North Korea, the National Security Act provides the basis for punishing members and supporters of "anti-state organizations" and those who "praise" or "encourage" entities deemed enemies of the state. While the law doesn't explicitly outlaw communism, its vague language has allowed authoritarian leaders here to use the "communist" label to suppress opposition and criticism.

While cases like this lay bare lingering anxiety surrounding communism, legal experts note that in today's South Korea, even parties openly promoting communist ideals may not necessarily face charges under the National Security Act. The law is now applied with much greater restraint than in the past, they explained.

By Moon Ki-hoon(moonkihoon@heraldcorp.com)