Home > National > Politics

Top court upholds acquittal of prosecutor accused of leaking info against liberals before election

Published: 24 Apr. 2025, 11:41 Updated: 24 Apr. 2025, 15:15

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

Prosecutor Son Jun-sung, deputy chief prosecutor at the Daegu High Prosecutors' Office, attends a second trial in the so-called prosecutorial complaint fabrication case against him at Seoul High Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Dec. 6, 2024. [NEWS1]

Prosecutor Son Jun-sung, deputy chief prosecutor at the Daegu High Prosecutors' Office, was acquitted Thursday of leaking information to encourage the then-opposition conservative party to file complaints against liberal figures before a general election.

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an appellate court’s verdict that found Son not guilty of violating the Public Official Election Act and leaking official secrets.

Son was indicted for sharing images of criminal complaints and court rulings against identified ruling bloc figures with then-opposition candidate Kim Woong of the United Future Party — the predecessor of today's conservative People Power Party (PPP) — via Telegram while serving as director of Investigation Information Policy at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in April 2020, shortly before the 21st general election.

The central allegation was that the prosecution attempted to influence the opposition party to file complaints against pro-government figures — including Choe Kang-wook, a then-candidate of the Open Democratic Party, Hwang Hee-seok, a former member of the Open Democratic Party's supreme council, and Rhyu Si-min, then-head of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation — to sway public opinion against the ruling party.

In the first trial in January last year, the court sentenced Son to a year in prison after convicting him of leaking official and criminal justice-related information by sending a court ruling identifying individuals to Kim.

Prosecutor Son Jun-sung, deputy chief prosecutor at the Daegu High Prosecutors' Office, answers questions from a reporter after the first trial in the so-called prosecutorial complaint fabrication case against him at the Seoul High Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Oct. 4, 2024. [NEWS1]

However, he was acquitted of violating election law, with a court ruling that sending a draft complaint alone did not constitute a serious enough act to influence the election outcome.

In December last year, an appeals court overturned the earlier conviction and acquitted Son on all charges, stating there was insufficient evidence to prove that Son had sent the complaint draft and court ruling to Kim.

BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]