Former Head Baek Nak-jong of Military Comment Investigation Concealment Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Baek Nakjong, former head of the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters, who was prosecuted for ordering a cover-up investigation into the military's alleged interference in the presidential election, has been confirmed guilty.

On the 18th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Cheon Daeyeop) announced that it upheld the original sentence of one year imprisonment for Baek, who was charged with abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights.

Baek was indicted for directing the reduction and concealment of the investigation along with Kwon Mo, former deputy head of the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters, during the investigation of the military cyber command's political involvement case from 2013 to 2014. In 2014, he was also charged with ordering investigators to prepare false witness statements and with drafting and distributing a press release containing false information stating that there was no organized military interference in the presidential election, while referring former Cyber Command commanders Yeon Jaeuk and Ok Dokyung to the Ministry of National Defense prosecution team on charges of aiding political involvement. Additionally, Baek was accused of embezzlement for taking electronic devices worth about 3 million won from the official residence of the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters after his retirement.

During the trial, Baek and others denied all charges, but the first trial court ruled, "They neglected the fundamental duty of investigative agencies to discover the substantive truth and proceeded with the investigation having already concluded that there was no organized military interference in the presidential election," and judged that "they deceived the public by distributing a press release containing false information." Baek was sentenced to one year in prison, and Kwon was sentenced to ten months in prison with a two-year probation.

The second trial court's judgment was no different. The appellate court maintained the first trial's judgment, stating, "As the head of the military investigative agency, there was an obligation to thoroughly investigate the military's alleged interference in the presidential election, which was a matter of public interest at the time, and to inform the confirmed facts, but this obligation was violated."

Baek and others appealed, but on this day, the Supreme Court also confirmed the ruling, stating, "There is no error in the legal reasoning of the original judgment."

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