South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Monday an anti-North Korea law was needed because the two countries remained technically at war, after a Korean-American was deported to the United States under the law for making positive comments about the North.
However, Ms. Park also said she remained open to a summit meeting with the North's leader Kim Jong Un to ease tensions.
Shin Eun-mi, a South Korea-born American, who came to the South in 2014 as a tourist, has spoken positively of life in North Korea in speeches around the country, as well as in online posts.
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"Not all countries face exactly the same circumstances," Ms. Park said at a news conference, when asked about the National Security Law, the anti-North statute, which Ms. Shin is accused of violating.
"We need the very minimum of law to ensure security in this country as we remain in a standoff with the North, and the law is enforced according to that," she said.
Earlier on Monday, a Justice Ministry official confirmed Ms. Shin had been deported for violating the National Security Law as well as the immigration control law.
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"She was taken to the (airport) and was expelled, and is barred from re-entry for the next five years," the Ministry official said.
Ms. Shin boarded a plane on Saturday. Yonhap news agency said she landed in Los Angeles on Saturday local time and a scuffle broke out at the airport between supporters welcoming her back and opponents.