Korean-Australian citizen Chan Han聽Choi聽faces a sentencing hearing in March-April in Sydney after pleading guilty to two charges of attempting to circumvent controversial United Nations economic sanctions against the Democratic People鈥檚 Republic of Korea (DPRK), better known as North Korea.
The plea bargaining deal accepted in court on February 10 involved the prosecution withdrawing the two most outrageous charges against聽Choi, relating to allegations that he assisted the DPRK in exporting materiel to boost the development of 鈥渨eapons of mass destruction鈥.
Nevertheless, the remaining serious charges each involve a maximum penalty of 10 year鈥檚 jail.聽
Choi聽was arrested in December 2017 and had been held in prison until his release on bail in November last year.
Choi鈥檚 new lawyer Mark Davis told聽the ABC his client was relieved to be facing a 鈥渇ar more rational array of charges.聽Essentially, he鈥檚 rejecting the military implication. He鈥檚 rejecting anything being supplied by him to North Korea completely.鈥
Davis said聽Choi聽had previously been in business when it was legal to sell North Korean products.聽鈥淗e鈥檚 pleaded guilty to breaching the embargoes that were put in place around North Korea for various products,鈥 he said.
The judge rejected the prosecution鈥檚 application for聽Choi鈥檚 re-detention, and expressed concern that he had effectively been 鈥渋n a fortress鈥澛爓hile in custody, because his prisoner classification made it difficult for interpreters to gain access due to a heightened vetting process.
Choi聽pleaded guilty to one count of contravening a United Nations sanction enforcement law and another of contravening a sanction law. These actions included attempting to broker a deal to export North Korean coal to Indonesia, and to export 鈥渃onventional鈥 arms from the DPRK.聽
In the end, all these attempted deals fell through.聽
This political trial occurs in the context of ongoing threats of war and devastating economic sanctions directed against North Korea by the United States and its allies. It imposes a form of collective punishment on the people of North Korea.
Under the Donald Trump administration, US attacks on the DPRK worsened.聽It is yet聽to be seen whether the Biden administration will make any moves to reduce tensions with North Korea.
Choi聽is a victim of this campaign, and should be supported as a question of basic human rights.聽The convictions of Choi聽should be overturned and all charges dropped. The economic and political sanctions against the North Korean people should be lifted, the US threats of war should cease, and US forces (along with their weapons of mass destruction)聽should be withdrawn from the Korean peninsula.