A civilian employee affiliated with the Defense Intelligence Command, who leaked confidential information including military secret agent details, has been sentenced to a heavy penalty.
On the 21st, the Central District Military Court sentenced Mr. A (45), a civilian employee, to 20 years in prison and a fine of 1.2 billion Korean won. Additionally, a forfeiture of 162.05 million won was ordered.
The court stated, “The defendant, as the head of the intelligence operations team, leaked numerous secrets including military second-level secrets, and despite having a duty of integrity, he repeatedly demanded and accepted money in exchange.”
The court further emphasized, “The leaked military secrets included personal information of deployed intelligence officers, and the leak posed a clear risk to their life and physical freedom. It also resulted in a loss as the time and effort spent by the intelligence officers on information collection could no longer be utilized.”
Previously, military prosecutors had sought life imprisonment, a fine of 800 million won, and a forfeiture of 162.05 million won during the final hearing last month.
Mr. A was detained and indicted last August on charges of leaking military secrets in exchange for money multiple times to a person suspected of being a Chinese intelligence agent since 2017. The leaked materials consisted of 30 items, including 12 documents and 18 voice messages. The leaked secrets also included a list of undercover (black) agents.
Mr. A was also charged under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes for bribery and a violation of the Military Secret Protection Act.
Mr. A served in the intelligence command as a non-commissioned officer since the 1990s and transitioned to a civilian employee in the mid-2000s. At the time of the crime, he was working at the team leader level in the intelligence command and was known to be a grade 5 civilian employee at the time of his indictment.