‘MB Comment Manipulation’ Former GIMUSA Commander Bae Deuk-sik Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison

Former Commander Bae Deuk-sik of the Defense Security Command [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Bae Deuk-sik, former commander of the Republic of Korea Army’s Defense Security Command, who was prosecuted for leading the comment manipulation operations during the Lee Myung-bak administration, has been sentenced to three years in prison.

The Supreme Court’s First Division (Presiding Justice Park Jung-hwa) announced on the 13th that it upheld the lower court’s ruling sentencing Bae, who was charged with abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights, to three years in prison.

Bae was prosecuted for operating the comment manipulation group ‘Seupalteu’ (Sparta) from March 2011 to April 2013, during which he allegedly ordered the posting of about 20,000 politically involved online comments supporting the then-ruling party or opposing the opposition party.

He was also accused of illegally accessing subscriber information of hundreds of IDs that posted critical comments about former President Lee and his administration, and of recording and reporting dozens of episodes of the internet podcast ‘Naneun Ggomsooda’ (I Am a Petty Cunning) at the request of the Blue House.

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. The appellate court recognized guilt only for the parts of the illegal access to IDs critical of the former president and government where the seven-year statute of limitations had not expired for each victim, and for the ID information access related to allegations of civilian surveillance by the Defense Security Command, while acquitting or dismissing the rest.

However, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the Seoul High Court, indicating that most of the charges, including online public opinion manipulation, should be considered guilty.

The retrial court followed the Supreme Court’s judgment exactly. The court stated, “This was done for highly partisan purposes such as the ruling power’s regime reestablishment, severely damaging public expectations and trust, threatening the foundation of the military’s existence, and is therefore highly condemnable,” and sentenced him to three years in prison.

The reopened final appeal also agreed that the retrial court’s judgment was correct.