The first-instance ruling that acquitted former Presidential Security Service Chief Park Jong-jun, who was indicted on charges of deleting secure phone data of former President Yoon Suk-yeol and others following the December 3 emergency martial law situation, has been overturned to a guilty verdict in the appellate court.

On the 14th, Criminal Division 12-2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Cho Jin-gu, Minah, and Lee Seung-chul) overturned the lower court's ruling that had acquitted Park, who was indicted for evidence destruction, and sentenced him to 1 year in prison.

Earlier, the special prosecutor team led by Cho Eunseok for the insurrection case had demanded a 3-year prison sentence for Park.

Unlike the lower court, the appellate court determined that Park's intent to destroy evidence could not be denied at the time he deleted the secure phone data of former President Yoon, former First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service Hong Jang-won, and former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Chief Kim Bong-shik.

The court stated, "It is reasonable to view that at the time Kim Bong-shik's secure phone was deleted, [the defendant] knew that the electronic information was evidence in the criminal case regarding the insurrection involving Yoon Suk-yeol and others," adding, "It is judged that the electronic information of Hong Jang-won and Yoon Suk-yeol also constituted evidence in criminal cases."

The court also rejected Park's claim that security measures were taken because the ID of the president's secure phone was exposed after the screen of former Deputy Director Hong's secure phone was revealed in the National Assembly.

The court pointed out, "Even if there was a purpose to prevent security accidents, the deletion measure cannot be regarded as an urgent and inevitable means," and added, "The defendant's act cannot be viewed as a justifiable act."

It further stated, "The act of destroying evidence had a negative impact on discovering the substantial truth of the criminal case," and "Considering the circumstances of the crime and the defendant's position, taking legal responsibility is inevitable."

Park was indicted last December on charges of arbitrarily deleting the secure phone data of former President Yoon, former NIS First Deputy Director Hong Jang-won, and former Seoul Police Chief Kim Bong-shik through remote logout following the emergency martial law crisis.

Separately from this case, Park was indicted on charges of obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant against former President Yoon by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, and was sentenced to 4 years in prison in the first trial and taken into custody.

The appellate ruling for that case is scheduled for the 28th.

(Photo: Yonhap News)