An Army soldier convicted of leaking military secrets, including materials on South Korea-U.S. joint exercises, to a Chinese intelligence organization has been handed a definitive prison sentence.

The Supreme Court's Second Division (presiding Justice Park Young-jae) finalized the appellate ruling against an individual identified as A, who was indicted on charges including general aiding of the enemy, leakage of military secrets, accepting bribes after unlawful acts, and violations of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, sentencing A to four years in prison, a fine of 20 million won, and an additional forfeiture of 19.07 million won.

A, who was an Army sergeant at the time, communicated with an unidentified Chinese person met through social media and met with them in Beijing, China, in August 2024.

A accepted an offer to provide non-public military materials from the individual, who claimed to be affiliated with a Chinese intelligence agency.

From around that time until February of the following year, A was put on trial for leaking military secrets—such as materials related to South Korea-U.S. joint exercises, United Command data, and South Korean military independent training documents—a total of seven times in exchange for approximately 17.26 million won.

Investigations showed that after complaining to the recipient about the difficulty of photographing military secrets using an iPhone, A was provided with a wristwatch-style camera to take pictures of the classified military information.

A was sentenced to five years in prison in the first trial held at a military court.

The Seoul High Court sentenced A to four years in prison, a 20 million won fine, and an order of forfeiture of 19.07 million won in the second trial.

A argued that there was no intent to aid the enemy, but the argument was rejected.

The appellate court stated, "Although there is no direct evidence that the person who recruited and gave directives to the defendant was a member of a Chinese intelligence organization, the established facts prove that the defendant leaked military secrets to a Chinese intelligence organization through an unidentified person."

The court further pointed out, "As an active-duty soldier who had received security training and was well aware that military secrets must not be leaked externally, the defendant committed a grave crime," adding, "The nature of the crime is severe as it was carried out in an organized and meticulous manner."

A was also charged with providing money to a sex worker through a prostitution brokerage business (violating the Act on the Punishment of Acts of Arranging Sexual Traffic), but was acquitted of that charge on the grounds that the related evidence constituted separate criminal evidence lacking objective relevance to the military secrets-related charges listed in the seizure warrant.

The Supreme Court also concluded that there were no errors in the lower court's judgment and dismissed the appeal.
(Photo: Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)