Prosecution Seeks 5-Year Prison Sentence for Kim Kwan-jin in 'Comment Manipulation' Case

Kim "Response to South Korea Psychological Warfare"

The prosecution requested a 5-year prison sentence in the retrial of former Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin, who was indicted on charges of ordering the Cyber Command to write political comments.

Former Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 7th, at the retrial sentencing hearing of the case involving political involvement under the Military Criminal Act, held before the Criminal Division 1-2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Kim Woo-jin, Seo Kyung-hwan, Han Chang-hoon), the prosecution stated, "The military disguised itself as ordinary citizens to manipulate public opinion and infringed upon the values of free democracy," and requested a 5-year prison sentence.

Former Minister Kim said, "I have devoted myself to protecting the country for 46 years, striving to build a strong military, a military that can win if it fights, but unexpectedly became a defendant for political involvement, leaving a great stain on my life as a soldier who wanted to be a soldier," and emphasized, "Since it was a cyber psychological warfare aimed at responding to North Korean psychological warfare attacks, I hope for a fair judgment."

The defense argued that since former Minister Kim was appointed as Minister of National Defense in a civilian capacity, the Military Criminal Act, which prohibits political activities by military personnel, cannot be applied to punish him. Regarding the Supreme Court's view that he could be punished as an accomplice even if he was not in military status, they said, "This logic would mean that not only the son of a presidential candidate performing military service who helped his father's election campaign but also the presidential candidate himself could be punished under the Military Criminal Act."

Former Minister Kim was prosecuted on charges of ordering Cyber Command personnel to write about 9,000 comments supporting the then-government and the Saenuri Party and criticizing the opposition before and after the 2012 general and presidential elections. In October last year, the Supreme Court recognized guilt for political involvement and some charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of rights but ruled that some charges of abuse of authority should be acquitted. The retrial sentencing hearing is scheduled for the 18th of next month.

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