Former Lawmaker Kang Hyo-sang, Involved in 'Leak of US-Korea Presidential Call,' Receives Suspended Prison Sentence in First Trial

Former Assemblyman Kang Hyo-sang / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Former Liberty Korea Party (now People Power Party) lawmaker Kang Hyosang (60), who was prosecuted for leaking the contents of a phone call between the South Korean and U.S. presidents, was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the first trial.

On the morning of the 20th, Judge Kim Taekyun of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 16 sentenced Kang, who was charged with violating diplomatic secrecy, to six months in prison with a one-year suspension. He stated, "Considering the nature and importance of the diplomatic secret, the crime is serious. However, taking into account that no special diplomatic issues arose from this case and that the defendant is a first-time offender with no prior criminal record."

Judge Kim also said, "Looking at the schedule of the National Assembly standing committee to which the defendant belonged, it is difficult to see that the contents of this case were related to duties performed in the National Assembly, such as interpellation," rejecting the claim of parliamentary immunity. "The contents of the phone call between the South Korean and U.S. presidents regarding the U.S. president's visit to Korea must be protected as a secret until officially announced, based on diplomatic trust between countries," he added.

Former diplomat A, who was accused of leaking the phone call contents to Kang, was given a suspended sentence of four months. The judge said, "It appears that the crime was committed inadvertently during the process of responding to Kang's inquiry. It seems that the information was not expected to be widely disclosed externally, and A is a first-time offender." A suspended sentence means that for defendants with minor offenses, the sentencing is postponed for a certain period, and if no particular incident occurs during that time, the sentence is waived.

Earlier, Kang was prosecuted for receiving and leaking the contents of a phone call between former U.S. President Donald Trump and the South Korean president regarding Trump's visit to Korea, which was classified as diplomatic secret, from A, who was working at the U.S. Embassy in Korea on May 9, 2019. The prosecution viewed that Kang disclosed the secret through a press conference and on social networking services (SNS).

On the day he spoke with A, Kang held a press conference at the National Assembly's Press Hall, stating that "President Moon Jaein requested a visit to Korea immediately after President Trump's visit to Japan (May 25?28)." He also claimed that former President Trump responded, "We can consider meeting President Moon in front of the U.S. military base in Korea."

The government immediately refuted this as "an unfounded claim that violates diplomatic conventions." Former President Trump visited Korea from June 29 to 30 that year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through a joint inspection with the Blue House, detected signs that A leaked the phone call contents to Kang, who was his senior from high school, and reported the case to the prosecution.

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