Court Sentences Lawyer to 3 Years in Prison for Manipulating 'Jeon Ik-su Recording'... People's Jury Trial

Special Investigation Team Requests 5-Year Prison Sentence for Late Sergeant Lee Yeram
Jury Recommends 2 Years 4 Months to 3 Years 6 Months Imprisonment

Seoul Central District Court, Seocho-dong, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] A lawyer who manipulated the original file of the so-called 'Jeon Ik-su recording' related to the death of Air Force sexual violence victim, the late Sergeant Lee Ye-ram, was sentenced to prison in the first trial conducted as a citizen jury trial.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 34 (Presiding Judge Kang Gyu-tae) sentenced lawyer A, who was detained and indicted on charges including evidence forgery, to three years in prison on the 6th.

On this day, the court handed down the sentence referring to the deliberation results of five jurors.

The court stated, "The jurors were asked to deliberate without any involvement from the court, and their unanimous conclusion corresponds to the charges," thus finding A guilty.

The court added, "The jurors expressed opinions that the sentence should be at least two years and four months and at most three years and six months in prison, and none of the jurors suggested a suspended sentence."

It further stated, "The jurors noted that the defendant's method of crime was illegal, violated professional ethics as a lawyer, and considering the social repercussions, the sentence should be set high."

Additionally, the court pointed out, "To explain the court's judgment in addition to the jurors' opinions, this case caused secondary harm to the bereaved family of the late Sergeant Lee Ye-ram and obstructed the main investigation of the case."

Before the jury verdict on this day, the special prosecution team led by Ahn Mi-young requested a five-year prison sentence for A, emphasizing, "Although the defendant claims to have acted with a noble purpose despite apparently planning revenge meticulously over a long period, this is absurd," and "Despite being a legal professional, the defendant seriously damaged social trust in the legal profession by manipulating evidence, which is the foundation of truth discovery and fair trials."

A, who previously served as an Air Force legal officer, was tried on charges of evidence forgery for manipulating the original file of the so-called 'Jeon Ik-su recording,' which was exposed by the Military Human Rights Center last November and contained circumstances suggesting that Jeon Ik-su, the Air Force Legal Office Chief, directed a non-detention investigation of the sexual violence perpetrator.

At that time, the Military Human Rights Center raised suspicions that based on false reports by A, Chief Jeon directly led the non-detention investigation of the perpetrator in the early stages of the investigation into Sergeant Lee's sexual harassment case and preemptively prepared for the Ministry of National Defense prosecution team's search and seizure.

However, it was revealed that the recording was manipulated using a text-to-speech (TTS) device that mechanically generated human speech.

The special prosecution team judged that A committed this crime out of dissatisfaction after receiving disciplinary action due to deteriorated relations with a military prosecutor working in the same Air Force legal office during A's tenure as an Air Force legal officer.

When A was detained, the special prosecution team stated, "The charges were confirmed through testimonies from related parties and mechanical recordings obtained by scientific investigative techniques."

During the trial, A admitted to the charges but pleaded for leniency, claiming the actions were intended to ensure the investigation into Sergeant Lee's case would proceed.

In his final statement, he said, "I thought I must absolutely clarify the truth, but I am sorry and remorseful for having resorted to such wrongful actions."

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