'MB Comment Manipulation' Bae Deuk-sik, Former GIMUSA Commander, Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison in Retrial and Remand

Former Director of the Defense Security Command Bae Deuk-sik [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Bae Deuksik, former commander of the Republic of Korea Army’s Defense Security Command (DSC), who was prosecuted for leading the comment manipulation operations during the Lee Myung-bak administration, was sentenced to imprisonment again and re-arrested in the retrial after remand.

On the morning of the 26th, the Criminal Division 1-1 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Lee Seung-ryeon, Judges Eom Sang-pil and Shim Dam) sentenced former Commander Bae, who was charged with abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights, to three years in prison, stating, "We follow the Supreme Court’s judgment on guilt or innocence as is."

The court stated, "Under the pretext of responding to North Korean military cyber psychological warfare, the defendant blindly followed the Blue House’s orders, defended the president and government, shared posts opposing political neutrality by criticizing opposing forces, hindered the free formation of public opinion, and ordered illegal inquiries into users’ identities." It added, "These actions were carried out for highly partisan purposes such as the ruling party’s regime re-creation, severely damaging public expectations and trust, thereby threatening the foundation of the military’s existence, which is highly condemnable."

Furthermore, the court pointed out, "Although related work had been partially underway at the DSC before his appointment, as commander, he had enormous authority and responsibility to command and supervise the unit. His illegal and unjust orders without serious consideration of legality and legitimacy cannot be justified." It also said, "The military is based on the blood tax and defense duties of the entire nation. The military is not made up of the taxes and service of just a few individuals." However, the court took into account that former Commander Bae was a first-time offender and had served the country as a career soldier for 36 years.

The court also stated, "Since the guilty verdict cannot be changed even if the case goes back to the Supreme Court, there is a risk of flight," and ordered the re-arrest of former Commander Bae, who had been on trial in the retrial after remand while out on bail.

Previously, former Commander Bae was prosecuted for operating the comment manipulation organization called 'Sparta' from March 2011 to April 2013, directing the posting of about 20,000 politically involved posts online supporting the then-ruling party or opposing the opposition. In particular, he was also charged with illegally accessing subscriber information of hundreds of IDs that posted critical comments about former President Lee and the government, and recording and reporting dozens of episodes of the internet podcast "Naneun Ggomsuda" ("I’m a Weasel") at the Blue House’s request.

The first trial sentenced him to three years in prison, but the appellate court reduced the sentence to eight months in prison with a two-year probation. Among the charges against former Commander Bae, only the parts involving identity inquiries of IDs critical of former President Lee and the government, for which the statute of limitations of seven years had not passed for each victim, and the identity inquiries related to the DSC’s civilian surveillance allegations were recognized as guilty, while the rest were acquitted or dismissed.

However, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the Seoul High Court, ruling that most of the charges, including online public opinion manipulation, should be considered guilty. It stated, "The acts of the defendant and DSC officials instructing North Korean intelligence agents and subordinate DSC cyber officers to conduct online public opinion manipulation activities on Twitter constitute a single abuse of authority crime rather than separate crimes for each target, and thus the statute of limitations has not expired."