Eavesdropped on Police Radio Traffic About 'Traffic Accidents' for 1 Year... Auto Repair Shop Employee Sentenced to 1 Year and 6 Months in Prison

Jeonju District Court.

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] An employee of an automobile repair shop who eavesdropped on police radio communications for over a year has been sentenced to prison.

Today (17th), the 1st Criminal Division of the Gunsan Branch of Jeonju District Court (Chief Judge Hyundeok Kim) announced that it sentenced A (57), an automobile repair shop employee indicted for violating the Communication Privacy Protection Act, to 1 year and 6 months in prison and a 2-year suspension of qualifications.

A was charged with eavesdropping on conversations of police officers receiving instructions related to traffic accidents by using a police radio received from an acquaintance for about a year starting from December 2019.

He listened to the radio transmissions in an office in Iksan and whenever he heard words like "traffic accident," he informed tow truck drivers he was acquainted with about the time and location of the accident. The drivers who received the information arrived at the traffic accident scene earlier than other drivers, towed the vehicles, and then entrusted the repairs to the repair shop where A worked, according to the investigation.

Regarding A's crime, the court stated, "The act of illegally eavesdropping on police officers' conversations to gain personal benefit is of a serious nature." Furthermore, considering that the defendant had a prior record of being sentenced to 1 year in prison with a 2-year probation for the same method of crime, the court ruled that a prison sentence was inevitable.

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