by REERA YOO | @reeraboo
editor@charactermedia.com
South Korea’s former spy chief has been sentenced to three years in prison for interfering in the 2012 presidential election in support of President Park Geun-hye, reports Reuters.
The Seoul High Court said on Monday that Won Sei-hoon, who headed the National Intelligence Service (NIS) from 2009 to 2013, was found guilty of ordering his subordinates to conduct an online smear campaign against Park’s rivals, according to Yonhap News Agency. In the run-up to the December 2012 vote, Won’s subordinates posted a total of 110,000 messages on online bulletin boards, Twitter and other social media platforms, often depicting Park’s opponents as North Korean sympathizers.
Park won the election, edging out her main opponent, Moon Jae-in, by a slight margin of 3.5 percentage points. Court officials did not comment on whether Won’s actions directly resulted in Park getting elected.
Last September, a district court found Won guilty of violating laws that prohibited NIS agents from meddling in politics, but Won’s two-and-a-half years sentence was suspended after the court ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove that he intended to influence the results of the presidential election.
The Seoul High Court, however, overturned the lower court’s verdict on Monday and sentenced Won to three years in prison. Two former subordinates of Won were also handed a prison sentence of one and a half years on similar charges.
“It is fair to say Won had the intention to intervene in the election even by willfully neglecting these activities,” Judge Kim Sang-hwan said in the ruling, according to Yonhap.
Before he was taken into custody, Won claimed the verdict was unfair and said he was “working for the good of the country and the people.”
Park said she did not benefit from the online smear campaign during the election and denied ordering the NIS to help sway votes in her favor. Park’s governing Saenuri Party expressed regret over the ruling and said it will strive to ensure political neutrality, according to Yonhap.
Meanwhile, the main opposition New Politics for Alliance for Democracy has demanded an apology for the scandal from former President Lee Myung-bak, whose government Won served as chief of intelligence.
The intelligence service was founded in 1961 during the military rule of President Park Chung-hee, Park’s father. It was originally created to spy on North Korea, but has since been repeatedly accused of being used as a political tool by sitting presidents.
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Photo courtesy of Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji
