A Seoul court on Friday sentenced former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun to three years in prison for leaking military secrets ahead of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid in December 2024.
The Seoul Central District Court found Kim guilty of conspiring to hand over the personal information of more than 40 military intelligence personnel to Noh Sang-won, a retired general and former head of the Defense Intelligence Command, between October and November 2024.
The court recognized that Kim and Noh had planned to use the list to form a special investigation unit under martial law to probe alleged election-rigging. "The defendant used the military command system to play a decisive role in allowing former commander Noh, a civilian, to get access to personal information of DIC agents," the court said. "It led to the grave result of an unconstitutional and illegal emergency martial law."
The ruling fell short of the five-year term sought by prosecutors. Kim signaled his intent to appeal through his lawyers, claiming the decision was "wrong." He was already sentenced to 30 years in February for his role in the insurrection attempt and received another 30-year term last Friday for a drone operation.
