'Political Conspiracy' Former NIS Chief Won Sei-hoon Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison... First Verdict in 2 Years

Court Consolidates 8 Cases for Sentencing... No Confiscation
Min Byeongju Sentenced to 2 Years 6 Months, Lee Jongmyeong to 2 Years
"Crimes Undermining National Stability... Not Justifiable"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Won Se-hoon, who was prosecuted for various political manipulations during the Lee Myung-bak administration, was sentenced to seven years in prison in the first trial.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 22 (Chief Judge Lee Soon-hyung) held the sentencing hearing on the 7th and sentenced former Director Won to seven years of disqualification along with the prison term. However, the court did not impose the prosecution's claim for a fine of 19.8 billion won, stating, "It has not been confirmed that the embezzled money from the national treasury loss crime was used personally." Former NIS Psychological Operations Team Chief Min Byung-joo was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, and former NIS 3rd Deputy Director Lee Jong-myung was sentenced to two years in prison for the same charges.

The court pointed out, "Former Director Won, as the head of the NIS, betrayed the duty to ensure national security and the public's trust in the NIS," adding, "Despite the existence of numerous objective statements and testimonies, he continued to deny the charges and inappropriately shifted responsibility to subordinates." It further stated, "Even if it is not confirmed that he directly benefited from the crime, the necessity of punishment is great, and committing crimes that undermine national stability cannot be justified for any reason."

After the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration in 2017, former Director Won was re-investigated by the prosecution during the process of clearing out deep-rooted evils in the NIS. As a result, starting with his indictment in December 2017 for operating a civilian comment squad and misusing NIS budget for purposes other than intended, he was indicted nine times over a year, including being prosecuted in 2018 for using NIS budget to establish a pro-government labor union.

The court divided this case into eight parts and assigned them to four trial divisions for parallel trials. After two years of hearings, the cases were consolidated again for the final sentencing procedure. Following this series of processes, the prosecution requested a sentence of 15 years in prison, 10 years of disqualification, and a fine of approximately 19.83 billion won at the sentencing hearing held in December last year.

Meanwhile, former Director Won was already indicted in 2013 for the NIS comment manipulation case and was sentenced to four years in prison and four years of disqualification by the Supreme Court's full bench in April 2018. He was also indicted for personal corruption charges involving receiving bribes worth hundreds of millions of won from a construction businessman and was sentenced to one year and two months in prison in 2016.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.