Supreme Court Confirms Not Guilty Verdict for Public Relations Officers in the Case of Late Sergeant Lee Yeram's Death

The acquittal of public relations officers who demanded the submission of call recording files from a colleague who had spoken with Sergeant Lee Yeram, deceased, in an attempt to sway public opinion critical of the Air Force following the report on Sergeant Lee's death has been finalized.

The ruling stated that, as those responsible for public relations at the time, they had the authority and responsibility to respond to false reports, and it was difficult to view their exercise of official authority to request cooperation in providing materials for public relations activities as illegal or improper.

Supreme Court, Seocho-dong, Seoul.

On the 11th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice No Tae-ak) upheld the lower court's verdict acquitting former Air Force Headquarters Public Relations and Information Office Chief Jeong Mo and A, who was in charge of public relations planning at the Air Force Headquarters Public Relations and Information Office, in the appeal trial on charges of abuse of authority obstructing the exercise of rights.

The court explained the reason for dismissing the military prosecutor's appeal, stating, "There is no error in the lower court's ruling regarding the legal principles of the crime of abuse of authority obstructing the exercise of rights."

They were indicted on charges of demanding Sergeant Kim Mo, belonging to the Air Force 20th Fighter Wing, to submit the call recording file with Sergeant Lee after a broadcast news report aired in late May 2021, alleging that the Air Force did not protect the victim and continued to coax and threaten her, in an attempt to release news to sway public opinion.

During this process, the military prosecution found that A pressured Kim by citing that he was a classmate of Kim's battalion commander and actually called Kim's superior to obtain consent for submitting the recording file.

However, both the first and second trials acquitted Jeong.

The first trial court stated, "Although it was somewhat inappropriate to respond in the form of a rebuttal report through another journalist without thoroughly verifying through military investigative agencies whether there was a false report regarding the coverage of Sergeant Lee's death and without going through legal procedures such as corrections or counter-reports, since the request for the call recording file was made under the main intention of 'correcting false reports,' it is difficult to consider the purpose of exercising authority as improper."

Furthermore, it was difficult to see that the two forced Kim to submit the file through pressure from Kim's battalion commander or superiors, and even if such incidents occurred, it was judged that they merely used their positions, titles, or personal relationships rather than abusing the authority to request cooperation in providing materials.

The second trial court held the same view.

The court stated, "The lower court's judgment regarding the defendants' act of requesting Kim to agree to provide the recording file in this case is acceptable," and added, "It is difficult to consider the degree of illegality or impropriety in the defendants' performance of duties to the extent that it can be evaluated as the original performance of duties based solely on procedural or methodological reasons argued by the military prosecutor as grounds for appeal."

The Supreme Court also found no problem with the second trial's ruling.

Meanwhile, Jeong is also on trial for allegedly distorting information about Sergeant Lee's private life and delivering it to reporters to reverse the worsening public opinion against the Air Force following the death incident.

The prosecution indicted Jeong on charges of defamation and official secret leakage for spreading false information to reporters that Sergeant Lee died due to marital issues such as her husband's affair, rather than the sexual assault incident, after she was sexually assaulted by a senior and subsequently took her own life.

Earlier, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 26 (Presiding Judge Jeong Jin-ah) sentenced Jeong to two years in prison in June last year. Jeong, who avoided immediate imprisonment, is currently undergoing an appeal trial while out on bail.