Moon Sang-ho, former Commander of the Defense Intelligence Command (Army Major General), answers questions regarding the dispatch of troops to the National Election Commission during a plenary session of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee on the morning of the 10th. [Yonhap News] 

Moon Sang-ho, former Commander of the Defense Intelligence Command, has been sentenced to prison for leaking a list of Defense Intelligence Command (DIC) agents to Noh Sang-won, a civilian and former DIC commander, during the December 3rd martial law period.

On the 26th, the 26th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Hyun-kyung) sentenced Moon to two years in prison on charges of leaking military secrets under the Military Criminal Act and violating the Personal Information Protection Act.

Following the sentencing, the court issued an arrest warrant for the former commander, whose detention period related to this case had previously expired.

Kim Bong-gyu, former head of the Central News Group (Colonel), and Jung Sung-wook, former head of the 2nd Business Group of the 100th Brigade (Colonel), who were indicted on the same charges, were sentenced to one year and six months and one year in prison, respectively, and were taken into court custody.

The court ruled that the list of DIC agents provided to the former commander, Noh, constituted military secrets and found all charges against the defendants to be guilty.

The court stated, "The identities of DIC personnel are prohibited from being disclosed outside of the chain of command," adding, "Considering that the list was provided to Noh, a civilian, through irregular channels such as Telegram, it is clear that the defendants colluded in the crime with the awareness that they were dealing with military secrets."

Addressing the defendants' claims that they were merely following the orders of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, the court noted, "It was evident that providing the list was an illegal and improper order that should not have been followed," and emphasized, "The difficulty of refusing a superior's order does not absolve one of responsibility."

The court reprimanded the defendants, stating, "Under the pretext of following a superior's orders, the defendants abandoned their duties by leaking military secrets and personal information to Noh, who was merely a civilian."

However, the court noted that it took into account the defendants' long years of military service when determining the sentences.

Moon and the others were charged with conspiring with former Minister Kim to leak the personal details of approximately 40 DIC agents to Noh in an attempt to form an unauthorized "2nd Investigation Group" to probe allegations of election fraud.

Former Minister Kim, indicted on the same charges, was sentenced to three years in prison in the first trial.

Noh, who was charged with receiving the list of DIC agents from former Minister Kim, had his two-year prison sentence finalized by the Supreme Court.

In addition to this case, Moon is currently standing trial before the same court (26th Criminal Division) alongside former Defense Security Support Command chief Yeo In-hyung on charges of participating in critical missions related to insurrection.

Recently, Moon is also being investigated by the 2nd Special Prosecutor's team led by Kwon Chang-young regarding suspicions of treason, specifically allegations that he, along with former Minister Kim and Noh, reviewed and promoted a "North Wind operation" prior to the declaration of martial law. The special prosecutor's team has booked all three individuals on charges of general treason.