The Minjok Ilbo case was a conspiratorial case in which the puppet military dictatorial forces forcibly closed the newspaper for having a progressive tendency in 1961 and punished Jo Yong Su, its manager, and others by "a special law on punishing special criminals" on charges of "praising, encouraging and sympathizing with the north".

The disclosure of truth behind this case in January of 2008 led to confirming the acquittal of Jo Yong Su who had been unjustly sentenced to death and declaring not guilty Yang Su Jong, who was editor-in-chief of the newspaper.