The appeal ruling for Park Jong-jun, former head of the Presidential Security Service, who was acquitted in the first trial for allegedly deleting information from secret phones belonging to former President Yoon Suk Yeol and others during the martial law situation, is set to take place today.
The appeal is being heard by the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 12-2 (Judges Jo Jin-goo, Kim Min-ah, Lee Seung-cheol).
Park was indicted last December for allegedly remotely deleting information from the secret phones of Yoon, former National Intelligence Service Deputy Director Hong Jang-won, and former Seoul Police Chief Kim Bong-sik on December 6, 2024, following the martial law situation.
According to the special investigation team's findings, Park called former NIS Director Cho Tae-yong at the time, pointing out that Hong's secret phone screen had been exposed in the National Assembly, and inquired, "I heard there was news about Hong's dismissal; is it possible to retrieve the secret phone?"
At that time, Hong planned to return the device to the NIS security department after completing the resignation process. However, it was determined that Park deleted internal electronic information, including call records with Yoon, while performing a remote logout.
The first trial ruled that even if the deletion was deemed insufficient as a security measure, there was no presumption of intent to destroy evidence on Park's part, accepting his argument that the information was deleted as part of security measures in light of the exposure of Yoon's secret phone ID.
Separately, Park has been indicted for obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant by the High-ranking Officials Crime Investigation Office (SPO) against Yoon, for which he received a four-year prison sentence in the first trial. This case is also awaiting an appeal ruling on the 28th.
Meanwhile, the first ruling for independent lawmaker Kang Sun-woo and former Seoul City Council member Kim Kyung, who are accused of exchanging 100 million won in connection with city council nominations, will also be announced today.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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