Supreme Court: "Consistent with Objective Report, Not False Contrary to Facts"
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The trial of former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-chun, who was indicted on charges of falsifying the time and method of the Sewol ferry disaster and was found guilty in the first and second trials, will be reopened.
The Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheol-sang) on the 19th overturned the lower court's ruling that sentenced former Chief of Staff Kim to one year in prison with a two-year probation in the appeal trial on charges including falsification of official documents, and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court. Former National Security Office chiefs Kim Kwan-jin and Kim Jang-soo, who were tried on the same charges, were acquitted with the verdict finalized.
Former Chief of Staff Kim Ki-chun was prosecuted on charges of submitting false information to the National Assembly by inaccurately recording whether former President Park Geun-hye received real-time reports during the Sewol ferry disaster on April 16, 2014, and the time of the first telephone report.
Former National Security Office chiefs Kim Kwan-jin and Kim Jang-soo were charged with damaging official documents by unlawfully changing the presidential directive (Basic Guidelines for National Crisis Management) that stated the Blue House as the control tower for national crisis management without following proper procedures.
According to the prosecution's investigation, the written report reached the presidential residence where former President Park was staying at around 10:19 to 10:20 a.m. on the day of the accident, and former Chief Kim Jang-soo made the first telephone report to former President Park at 10:22 a.m.
The first trial recognized former Chief Kim Ki-chun's charges as guilty and sentenced him to one year in prison with a two-year probation. Former Chiefs Kim Jang-soo and Kim Kwan-jin were acquitted on the grounds that they did not recognize the falsity or due to lack of evidence.
The second trial maintained the first trial's judgment, stating, "Former Chief Kim Ki-chun's actions can only be seen as writing false facts to avoid public criticism of the Blue House." It also ruled not guilty for former Chiefs Kim Jang-soo and Kim Kwan-jin, stating there was no factual or legal error in the first trial's judgment.
However, the Supreme Court's judgment differed. The Supreme Court accepted former Chief Kim Ki-chun's claim that the content of the "written response to the National Assembly member's inquiry" was not false.
The court ruled, "The parts of the response that revealed factual matters corresponded to the actual objective reporting details such as the total number of reports sent by the Presidential Secretariat and the Blue House National Security Office to the attached secretaries or the presidential residence, including times and methods, and were not false."
It also stated, "The parts of the response expressing opinions were merely the defendant's subjective opinions and were not subject to factual verification. It cannot be considered that the defendant had the awareness of 'falsity' when drafting the response, which was identical to the testimony he gave under oath as a witness at the National Assembly Special Committee."
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