Supreme Court Confirms Prison Sentence for Former Commander Yeon Je-wook in Military Cyber Command Comment Manipulation Case

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Supreme Court has confirmed the prison sentence for former Cyber Commander Yeon Je-wook (Major General), who was indicted for involvement in the online comment manipulation by the Republic of Korea Cyber Command.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheol-sang) announced on the 29th that it upheld the lower court's ruling sentencing former Commander Yeon to two years in prison for political involvement charges.

The court stated, "There is no error in the lower court's interpretation of the law regarding the crime of political involvement."

Former Commander Yeon is accused of directing and participating in public opinion manipulation activities through posting comments by the Cyber Command around the time of the 18th presidential election and the 19th general election in 2011-2012.

The first trial held at the Ministry of National Defense Military Court found all charges guilty and sentenced him to eight months in prison with a two-year probation.

The second trial was held at the Seoul Central District Court. Former Commander Yeon was discharged from the military on December 31, 2014, and was tried as a civilian.

The court stated, "To prevent recurrence of such incidents and to restore trust in the military's political neutrality, a correspondingly severe punishment is inevitable," overturning the lower court's ruling and sentencing him to two years in prison.

It added, "The military's obligation of political neutrality, as stipulated by the Constitution, is a provision codified out of reflective consideration to avoid repeating the unfortunate historical experiences caused by military political intervention," emphasizing, "A direct violation of the duty of political neutrality infringes upon constitutional values."

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