Former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, indicted on charges of deceiving the Presidential Security Service to obtain a secure phone known as a classified phone and handing it to former Defense Intelligence Command chief Noh Sang-won, as well as ordering the destruction of materials related to the Dec. 3 martial law, was sentenced to prison in the first trial. In the first indictment case since the launch of the special counsel investigating the insurrection case, the court found all of Kim's charges guilty.
The Criminal Agreement Division 34 of the Seoul Central District Court (presiding judge Han Seong-jin) on the 19th sentenced the former Minister to three years in prison on charges of obstructing the performance of official duties by fraudulent means and instigating the destruction of evidence. Earlier, the special counsel investigating the insurrection case sought a five-year prison term for the former Minister.
The court found that the former Minister obstructed the Presidential Security Service's work of issuing classified phones by using his position as Minister of National Defense. The court said, "As Minister of National Defense, the defendant committed the crime of obstructing the performance of official duties by fraudulent means, and the crime of instigating the destruction of evidence has made it difficult to discover the substantive truth surrounding the Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, thereby hindering the proper exercise of criminal justice."
The court also found him guilty of obstructing the performance of official duties by fraudulent means. The court said, "Given that former Defense Intelligence Command chief Noh Sang-won appeared before the Central Regional Military Court and received a classified phone, saying the defendant would seek advice necessary for the investigation in this case, the intent to obstruct official duties by fraudulent means is established." The court went on to note regarding the materials the former Minister ordered destroyed, "These documents in this case constitute evidence in the defendant's criminal case, and the defendant's instruction to destroy the documents constitutes instigation."
The former Minister is accused of deceiving the Presidential Security Service to receive a classified phone on Dec. 2, 2024, one day before the declaration of martial law, and then handing it to the former commander. A classified phone is a mobile phone equipped with security functions to prevent call contents from being exposed externally. The former commander was found to have used the classified phone while acting as head of the so-called "Second Investigation Team" that purported to investigate alleged election fraud during the martial law period.
The former Minister is also accused of instructing a civilian surnamed Yang, who served as his aide-de-camp, on the 5th of the same month, right after the declaration of martial law, to destroy all materials related to martial law. The court said, "The defendant could have anticipated that this would affect the criminal case related to martial law," adding, "The intent to instigate the destruction of evidence is established."
At the sentencing hearing on the 10th of last month, the special counsel investigating the insurrection case characterized the former Minister's actions as "not a simple personal crime but one that shook the nation's security." The special counsel said, "It not only makes it difficult to discover the substantive truth of the Dec. 3 martial law, which holds important meaning in constitutional history, but also destroys core evidence unfavorable to the defendant, constituting an abuse of the right to defense and gravely obstructing the judicial order."
The former Minister has denied the charges. The argument is that he is already on trial in connection with the same martial law situation, making this double jeopardy, and that the elements of obstructing the performance of official duties by fraudulent means and instigating the destruction of evidence are not met. In his final statement, the former Minister said, "I can never accept the special counsel's claim of obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means," adding, "The additional security phone (classified phone) provided was used to perform the Minister's official duties."
Regarding the charge of instigating the destruction of evidence, the former Minister argued, "Dec. 5, 2024, was a special day for me—the last moment of resigning as Minister of National Defense and leaving the military forever," adding, "I took the time to sort through all the various job-related security materials that had accumulated."
The court, however, considered as a favorable sentencing factor that the former Minister had no prior criminal record. In a separate first trial on the case of participation in important duties related to the insurrection, the former Minister was sentenced to 30 years in prison and is now in the appellate trial.