The court is set to deliver its verdict on Kim Yong-hyun, the former Minister of National Defense, who has been indicted for unlawfully disclosing a list of personnel from the Military Intelligence Command (MIC) during a state of emergency in December 2023.
According to legal sources on June 14, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 21, presided over by Judge Jo Soon-pyo, will announce its ruling on June 19 regarding charges of leaking military secrets and violating the Personal Information Protection Act against Kim.
The Special Prosecutor's Office has charged Kim with conspiring with military officials between October and November 2024 to leak the names of over 40 MIC special agents to Noh Sang-won, a civilian and former MIC commander.
Investigations revealed that the information provided to Noh included not only ranks and names but also details such as year of commissioning, birthplace, education, and other characteristics.
The Special Prosecutor's Office believes that they intended to form a separate investigative team to probe allegations of electoral fraud during the state of emergency. Based on these charges, the prosecution sought a five-year prison sentence for Kim during the closing arguments last month. Additionally, Noh Sang-won, who was separately indicted for receiving the list, was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 24.9 million won by the Supreme Court last month.
Alongside Kim's sentencing, the court will also rule on the appeal of Seo Hoon, the former head of the National Security Office, and Kim Hong-hee, the former chief of the Coast Guard, related to the West Sea civil servant shooting case. The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 3, led by Judge Lee Seung-han, will hear their appeal on June 16 regarding charges of falsifying and using official documents.
This case involves the shooting of Lee Dae-jun, a civil servant from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, who went missing in the West Sea in September 2020 and was reportedly shot by North Korean forces. Prosecutors allege that Seo and Kim attempted to cover up the incident, leading to their indictment.
However, the first trial court acquitted them, stating, "There is insufficient evidence to conclude that there were procedural violations or that falsehoods were involved in the content." Along with them, former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won, former Minister of National Defense Seo Wook, and former National Security Office Secretary Noh Eun-chae were also acquitted in the first trial. The prosecution has since dropped its appeal, finalizing the verdict for these individuals.
The second trial will only address the charges against Seo and Kim related to the alleged fabrication of official documents concerning their assessment of voluntary defection. Previously, prosecutors sought sentences of one year and six months for Seo and two years for Kim.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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