Former NIS Chiefs Involved in 'Special Activity Fund Bribery' Request Retrial for Sentencing Review

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Nam Jae-jun, Lee Byung-ho, and Lee Byung-gi, former directors of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) who were indicted for providing special activity funds to the Blue House during the Park Geun-hye administration, requested the court to thoroughly reconsider sentencing and other matters in the retrial after remand.

The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 13 (Presiding Judges Gu Hoe-geun, Lee Jun-young, Choi Sung-bo) held the first hearing of the retrial for the former NIS directors on the 9th.

On this day, the defense for former directors Lee Byung-ho and Lee Byung-gi stated, "Until the remand, the focus was mainly on guilt or innocence, so after the remand, the reasons for sentencing should be intensively reviewed," adding, "Among the sentencing factors, the motive and circumstances of the crime are the most important, so these aspects should be highlighted in the retrial after remand."

The defense for former director Nam also said, "We want to receive a new judgment regarding sentencing." They requested former NIS Planning and Coordination Office Director Lee Heon-su, who was indicted as an accomplice, to appear as a witness.

Nam Jae-jun, Lee Byung-gi, and Lee Byung-ho were indicted on charges of providing 600 million KRW, 800 million KRW, and 2.1 billion KRW respectively from the special activity funds allocated to the NIS director during their tenure to the side of former President Park Geun-hye.

In the appellate trial, former director Nam was sentenced to two years in prison, while former directors Lee Byung-gi and Lee Byung-ho were each sentenced to two years and six months. Former director Lee Heon-su, who delivered the money to the Blue House, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison.

This case was remanded after the Supreme Court concluded that some charges of embezzlement of state funds and bribery, which were judged as not guilty in the first and second trials, should be considered guilty.

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