Prosecution Indicts Jeong Eui-yong on Charges of Leaking THAAD Military Secrets

Prosecution Applies Charges of Leaking Operational Information to Civic Groups

Jeong Eui-yong, former director of the National Security Office at the Blue House, who is accused of illegally and forcibly repatriating North Korean fishermen who expressed their intention to defect, is attending the first trial sentencing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on February 19, 2025. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The prosecution has indicted three individuals, including former National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, who were suspected of leaking military operation details to delay the deployment of THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) during the Moon Jae-in administration.

According to the legal community on the 8th, the Public Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Tae-hoon) indicted former First Deputy Director of the National Security Office Seo Joo-seok, former Director Chung, and former Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo without detention.

The Board of Audit and Inspection referred them to the prosecution last October on charges including violation of the Military Secrets Protection Act. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office assigned the case to Public Investigation Division 3 in November last year and began the investigation. In January, the prosecution conducted searches and seizures at former Deputy Director Seo's residence and at protest sites against the THAAD base in Seongju, Gyeongbuk, and summoned former Director Chung for questioning as a suspect on the 30th of last month.

The prosecution viewed that former First Deputy Director Seo leaked operational information and, despite receiving orders for military operations, commanded the field commanders to halt the operation. Former Director Chung and former Minister Jeong are accused of instructing the disclosure of military operation information classified as level 2 military secrets (such as missile and radar electronic unit replacements) to THAAD opposition groups, thereby leaking the information.

However, the prosecution determined that there was no evidence of charges related to the alleged leakage of operational information to China by former Director Chung and former Minister Jeong.