A two-year prison sentence was finalized for former Intelligence Commander Noh Sang-won, 64, who was sent to trial for extracting data on agents of the Defense Intelligence Command to form an investigative team to find grounds for claims of a "rigged election" during the Dec. 3 martial law.
The Supreme Court's second division (presiding Justice Park Young-jae) on the 12th finalized the lower court ruling that sentenced former Commander Noh to two years in prison and ordered a forfeiture of 24.9 million won on charges of violating the Personal Information Protection Act and taking a bribe in mediation under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
Noh was indicted in June last year on charges of receiving military information, including personal details of Defense Intelligence Command agents, to set up the Second Investigation Team under the Joint Investigation Headquarters of the Martial Law Command to investigate suspicions that the National Election Commission was involved in a rigged election if martial law were declared.
Noh also faced charges of receiving 20 million won in cash and department store gift certificates worth 6 million won from former Defense Intelligence Command Central Newspaper Unit head Kim Bong-gyu (colonel) and Gusamhui, commander of the Army 2nd Armored Brigade (brigadier general), respectively, in return for helping with promotions in Aug.–Sep. 2024.
The trial courts of first and second instance found all charges proven and sentenced Noh to two years in prison and a forfeiture of 24.9 million won. The Supreme Court rejected Noh's appeal, finding no error in those judgments. This is the first finalized Supreme Court conviction related to the Dec. 3 martial law.
In the first trial of the case charging Noh with engaging in important duties in an insurrection, the court sentenced Noh to 18 years in prison. The second-instance trial is being heard by the Criminal Division 12, the insurrection-dedicated panel of the Seoul High Court.
Noh was a civilian at the time of the martial law. While serving as the "shadow" for former Minister of the Ministry of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, Noh was known to have been deeply involved in the process of plotting the emergency martial law.