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Song Du-yul

Often labeled a North Korean supporter, Song sued Hwang Jang-yeop for defamation and won the case in 2001.

Biography

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SONG DU-YUL (1944-). Song studied at Seoul National University, and then moved to West Germany. After further studies at the Universities of Heidelberg and Frankfort-on-Maine, he became a German citizen and professor of sociology at the University of Munster. He has published on a wide range of subjects, including the question of relations between South and North Korea. There have been persistent claims in South Korea that he is a North Korean supporter, especially after he visited the North in 1991. In 1999, the North Korean defector, Hwang Jang-yeop, claimed that Song was a member of the North Korean ruling party's Political Bureau, using the name of Kim Cheol-Su. Song denied the charge, and sued Hwang for defamation in the South Korean courts, winning the case in 2001.

In 2002, Song planned to return at the invitation of the Korean Democracy League, but when the National Intelligence Service announced that it wished to interview him about his alleged links with North Korea, the League withdrew the invitation. However, it was reissued in 2003, and Song returned to Seoul in September 2003. Song has been the subject of South Korean film, called Border City, which was shown at the 53rd Berlin Film Festival and the 2002 Busan Film Festival.

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. (Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Korea, by Andrew C. Nahm and James E. Hoare, published by RLPG Books, appears by permission of the author and publisher).

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