Pyongyang, December 8 (KCNA) -- The General Association of Koreans in China issued a statement Tuesday in denunciation of the south Korean authorities' repression of Rev. Han Sang Ryol.

Some time ago, the south Korean puppet supreme court finally sentenced Rev. Han, who visited the DPRK last year to mark the 10th anniversary of the June 15 joint declaration, to three years of imprisonment and three years of suspension of qualification by invoking the "National Security Law", the statement charged.

His visit to the DPRK was an expression of the rock-firm will to devote himself to stirring up the patriotic desire for reunification of the fellow countrymen and providing the continuity of advance toward independent reunification, it said, adding:

All things he did in the DPRK are quite righteous as they were for promoting the national harmony and realizing the peace and reunification of the country in the spirit of the June 15 joint declaration.

Nevertheless, the south Korean authorities arrested him the moment he went over Panmunjom and had inflicted untold persecution on him for a long time before imposing such heavy punishment.

Urging them to cancel the punishment and set free Rev. Han at once, the statement said:

The reality clearly shows it is impossible to expect democracy in south Korean society and independent reunification of the country as long as the puppet traitor is allowed to stay in power.