Ro is the vice-chairman of the South Headquarters of the Pan-national Alliance for Korea's Reunification. He was described by NBC News as "a leader of a South Korean group that has maintained friendly ties with North Korean groups".
Arrest and prosecution
Ro was arrested in July 2012 after he returned from an unauthorized visit to North Korea, via the Joint Security Area in Panmunjom, where he called for the reunification of the two Koreas and bitterly criticized President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea for his hard-line North Korea policy. At the JSA, he was sent off by a large group of North Korean civilians waving the flag of reunified Korea and carrying bouquets of flowers. As he approached the actual concrete border-line, a large group of South Korean security officials, military policemen and US soldiers were already awaiting his crossing in preparation for his capture. As he set foot back in South Korea, he was immediately seized and carried away, while the by-now furious North Koreans behind the border hurled insults at and fiercely protested the action. No North Korean border guards present intervened. He had entered North Korea via China in March for a memorial service marking the 100th day since the death of ruler Kim Jong-il. In February 2013, he was sentenced to four years in prison, and the Seoul Central District Court also ordered that his rights, such as suffrage, be stripped for three years after his release from prison. He was released from prison in July 2016. The court ruling said "stern punishment is inevitable because made a secret visit to North Korea without permission". Another activist, Won Jin-wook, received a three-year prison sentence for communicating with North Korean officials to arrange Ro's trip.
Reactions
The arrest of Ro was described by American-based NK News as "a clear but unnecessary propaganda victory" for North Korea. An article in The Guardian mused: "The arrest made a very small splash in the western media, which comes as little surprise because a story with a warm North and a cold South is doesn't square easily with the message that has been delivered by media outlets in Europe and the US for the last two decades." North Korea's state news agency said the "arrest has pushed the people in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea into fury" and described it as an abuse of human rights.
