South Korean officials say they are considering whether to deport a Korean-American woman accused of praising rival North Korea during a recent lecture.
Prosecutors on Thursday asked the Korea Immigration Service to deport California resident Shin Eun-mi after determining her comments violated South Korea's anti-Pyongyang security law, according to immigration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war, split along the world's most heavily fortified border since the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
In South Korea, praising North Korea can be punished by up to seven years in prison under its anti-Pyongyang security law.
Critics have called for the law to be scrapped, saying it infringes upon freedom of speech.
Supporters argue it is needed because of threats from North Korea.
Shin regularly posted stories about her trips to North Korea on OhmyNews, a popular South Korean online news site.
Her book on North Korea trips was included in a government-designated reading list in 2013, but the culture ministry withdrew it this week.
During a November lecture in Seoul, Shin said many North Korean defectors living in South Korea had told her they wanted to go back home, and North Koreans hoped new leader Kim Jong-un would bring change.
She also praised the taste of North Korean beer and the cleanliness of the country's rivers.
Shin has said she had no intention of praising the country and was only expressing what she felt during her travels in North Korea.
In an article in OhmyNews, Shin said she would never return to South Korea because her "mother country" no longer wanted her.
According to her Facebook page, she was born in the city of Daegu and went to high school and university in Seoul.
