Supreme Court Confirms Suspended Sentence for Former Police Officer in 'Cheong Wa Dae Jeong Yoonhoe Document Leak' Case

Mr. Jung Yoon-hoi, the ex-husband of Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The suspended prison sentence has been finalized for the police officer who first leaked the ‘Jung Yoonhoe Document’ from the Park Geun-hye administration Blue House.

The document, which contained content that Jung Yoonhoe, the ex-husband of Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil), a secret power broker, was interfering in state affairs, was made public by the media in 2014 and triggered the ‘state affairs manipulation scandal.’

On the 5th, the Supreme Court’s 1st Division (Presiding Justice Park Jeong-hwa) announced that it upheld the original ruling sentencing former police officer Han to one year in prison with a two-year suspension for charges including office intrusion.

The Supreme Court stated, “There is no error in the lower court’s judgment regarding the legal principles on acquiring and leaking information in the course of duty under the crime of official secret leakage.”

Former officer Han was prosecuted for secretly entering the office of former Police Superintendent Park Gwan-cheon at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in February 2014 and copying and leaking the ‘Jung Yoonhoe Document.’ The document was taken out by Park after finishing his dispatch work at the Blue House’s Office of Public Official Discipline Secretary.

Subsequently, former officer Han handed the document to his colleague, former officer Choi, who then passed it to the media, making the document’s contents public.

The first trial court found all charges against former officer Han guilty and sentenced him to one year in prison. It recognized that Han had the intention to check whether there was useful material and that he intruded and searched Park’s office and leaked ‘official secrets concerning misconduct and inspection matters.’

The appellate court also found all charges guilty. However, the court reduced the sentence to one year in prison with a two-year suspension, stating, “There is no evidence to consider that former officer Han had the intention to deliberately leak the document’s contents externally or planned such acts.”