Chinese Court Affirms Seok's Sentence

A Chinese appeals court has upheld a two-year jail sentence for Seok Jae-hyun, a South Korean freelance photographer arrested last January and accused of helping North Korean refugees escape from China.

A contributor to The New York Times and Geo, Seok was arrested Jan. 18, 2003, while photographing refugees fleeing China by boat. He was sentenced last May to a two-year prison term and a 5,000 Yuan fine for human smuggling, a charge that he denied. Seok's film and cameras were also confiscated.

Seok's arrest and sentence outraged family and friends, who spent months appealing for his release through diplomatic and legal channels. Last July, supporters delivered a petition with 15,000 signatures to Chinese officials demanding Seok's release.

Hearings on Seok's appeal, which began in July, have been closed to foreign journalists. Seok's wife, Kang Hye-won, was also denied access.

South Korea's High Council in Beijing, Lee Young-baek, reported the court's decision to Kang on Dec. 19, according to Stephen Gilbert of Resolution 217, a human rights organization based in Ontario, Canada.

Seok's wife has since learned through the Korean foreign ministry that her husband was transferred Dec. 25 from the detention center to a regular Chinese prison, according to Korean-based photojournalist Nayan Sthankiya.

"The detention center...is a far better place than traditional Chinese prisons," Sthankiya says.

Since Seok's arrest, Resolution 217 has raised $3,500 in donations to provide proper food and medical care for Seok, and to help cover some of Kang's expenses.

So far, Kang has traveled to China a dozen times to appeal for her husband's release, and has seen Seok three times since his arrest, reports Gilbert. The first time was last May at his trial and sentencing.

The second visit, lasting about 20 minutes, occurred in September inside the prison where Seok is being held. "Kang said Jae looked emaciated and pale and was covered in a bright red rash he had gotten from using the prison's communal razor, the only one the 300-plus inmates are given for shaving," Gilbert says.

"The last time [Kang] saw him was in October. He was depressed and had given up hope, and had asked everyone to stop working on his behalf. It was as if he had resigned himself to his situation," says Gilbert.

Resolution 217 is continuing to solicit donations, petition signatures and other support.

At the time of his arrest, Seok was working on the second part of a personal project to trace the steps of North Korean refugees escaping through China to South Korea. A selection of images from the first part of the project is posted on Resolution 217's Web site at www.resolution217.org.