Overview
- A Seoul court convicted Kim of conspiring to hand over a list of more than 40 Defense Intelligence Command personnel to retired general Noh Sang-won and gave him a three-year prison term.
- Judges accepted the special counsel's theory that the list included covert agents and was intended to help create a special investigation unit under martial law to probe claimed election rigging.
- The court said Kim used his position in the military command system to let a civilian access sensitive personnel data, a move prosecutors say would have exposed agents and harmed intelligence operations.
- The three-year sentence was below the special counsel's requested five years and adds to two separate 30-year prison terms Kim has already received in related cases; Kim has said he will appeal.
- The rulings underscore growing legal accountability over the failed December 2024 martial law bid and raise questions about damage to covert operations, political fallout for those tied to the plan, and the outcome of pending appeals.