Byeon Hee-jae, 51, a senior adviser and head of Media Watch, who is accused of spreading the so-called "Choi Soon-sil (renamed Choi Seo-won) tablet PC fabrication theory," was sentenced to two years in prison and taken into custody in the courtroom on appeal.
The Criminal Appeals Division 4-2 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Eom Cheol) on the 2nd sentenced Byeon, who was indicted on charges including violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, to two years in prison and ordered him into custody. The court also revoked his bail and, ex officio, forfeited the 50 million won bail bond to the state.
Earlier, in Dec. 2018, the court of first instance found all of Byeon's charges guilty and sentenced him to two years in prison. At the time, he was taken into custody in the courtroom but was released on bail in May 2019 during the appeal, and was taken into custody again on this day.
Byeon was brought to trial on charges including spreading false information through his book "The curse of Son Seok-hee" and media interviews since 2016, saying, "JTBC colluded with former Blue House administrative officer Kim Han-soo to obtain the tablet PC, manipulated files, and reported as if Ms. Choi Soon-sil had used it." Over the years, Byeon filed multiple motions to recuse judges, saying he could not expect a fair trial, which prolonged the proceedings.
The court said on the day, "Reviewing the relevant evidence, it can be inferred that Ms. Choi is the user of the tablet at issue," adding, "Byeon continues to show no remorse for his wrongdoing," as reasons for the sentence. However, respecting the original judgment, it said there was no need to increase the sentence and dismissed both Byeon's and the prosecution's appeals.