'Negligence in State Affairs Manipulation' Woo Byung-woo Sentenced to 1 Year in 2nd Trial... Avoids Immediate Imprisonment (2nd Report)

Woo Byung-woo, former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House, who was prosecuted for condoning state affairs manipulation during the Park Geun-hye administration and conducting illegal surveillance through the National Intelligence Service, is leaving the courtroom after attending the appellate sentencing hearing held on the afternoon of the 4th at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Woo Byung-woo, former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House, who was prosecuted for condoning the state affairs manipulation during the Park Geun-hye administration and conducting illegal surveillance through the National Intelligence Service, was sentenced to one year in prison in the appellate court.

The Criminal Division 2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Ham Sang-hoon) delivered this sentence on the afternoon of the 4th during the appellate trial for charges including abuse of power. The court did not order immediate imprisonment, considering that Woo had been detained for about a year from the time of his arrest until he was granted bail in the first trial.

Woo was charged with neglecting to investigate the misconduct of Choi and others related to the Mir and K-Sports Foundations, and instead advising former Senior Secretary for Policy Coordination Ahn Jong-beom on legal countermeasures, thereby abetting the state affairs manipulation scandal. He was also prosecuted for illegal surveillance by ordering former National Intelligence Service Director of National Interest Information Chu Myung-ho to conduct a background check on former Special Inspector Lee Seok-su in 2016.

In the first trial, these cases were heard separately by two different courts. After nearly a year of proceedings, the court sentenced Woo to 2 years and 6 months in prison for abetting the state affairs manipulation and 1 year and 6 months for illegal surveillance. In the appellate trial, these two cases were merged and heard together.

The appellate court recognized Woo’s guilt on only 2 out of the 18 charges. The remaining charges were either acquitted or dismissed.

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