Cho Tae-yong, former director of the National Intelligence Service, arrives at the office of special prosecutor Cho Eun-seok's insurrection investigation team at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, as a suspect on Oct. 15 last year. [Yonhap]
Cho Tae-yong, former director of the National Intelligence Service, arrives at the office of special prosecutor Cho Eun-seok's insurrection investigation team at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, as a suspect on Oct. 15 last year. [Yonhap]

Cho Tae-yong, the former director of the National Intelligence Service, received a heavier sentence on appeal Wednesday — two years and six months in prison — after a Seoul court overturned parts of his first-trial acquittal. The original sentence had been one year and six months.

The first criminal division of the Seoul High Court, presided over by Judge Yun Seong-sik, handed down the ruling in Cho's appeal trial, reversing the lower court's verdict on several counts. Cho had been indicted on charges including dereliction of duty, violation of the NIS Act, violation of the Act on Testimony and Appraisal Before the National Assembly, destruction of evidence, preparation and use of false official documents, and perjury.

The appeals court accepted arguments by the insurrection special prosecutor, led by Cho Eun-seok, and found Cho guilty on the NIS Act violation, destruction of evidence, and Assembly testimony law violation charges that the first court had dismissed.

However, the court also accepted some of Cho's arguments, reversing the lower court's guilty findings on charges related to the preparation and use of false official documents and some perjury counts — specifically those involving his alleged receipt of martial law-related instruction documents from former President Yoon Suk Yeol or former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.

On the destruction of evidence charge, the court explained its reasoning: "It is difficult to conclude that he agreed to delete the user account on the secure phone of former NIS First Deputy Director Hong Jang-won out of fear of punishment for dereliction of duty, NIS Act violations, or insurrection-related charges, and for his own benefit — and therefore the case does not constitute 'destruction of evidence in one's own criminal case.'"

On the Assembly testimony law violation, the court said it was "reasonable to conclude that he recognized the report from former Deputy Director Hong regarding the arrest of politicians as an instruction from former President Yoon," and found him guilty. The court also reversed the first-trial acquittal on a perjury charge related to testimony that Yoon had mentioned "extraordinary measures" at a private meeting between late March and early April 2024.

The court additionally overturned the first-trial acquittal on the NIS Act violation charge concerning Cho's alleged political interference — specifically, his public dissemination of false information through press conferences and interviews from Dec. 6 through Dec. 10, 2024. The appeals court found that Cho had spread the false content knowing it was untrue, in order to undermine the credibility of former Deputy Director Hong's testimony.

However, the court acquitted Cho on the charge that he falsely told the Assembly he had not received martial law-related instruction documents from Yoon or others. "It cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt that his answer was false, as the documents received cannot be regarded as instruction documents containing martial law-related directives," the court said.

Cho faces charges of committing perjury at the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial of former President Yoon and before the National Assembly — denying that he had received any instructions or documents related to martial law from Yoon — and of submitting a written response containing that denial under the NIS's official seal.

He is also accused of failing to report to the National Assembly despite knowing of Yoon's declaration of emergency martial law and his orders to arrest politicians, of selectively submitting NIS security camera footage tracking former Deputy Director Hong's movements in violation of the NIS Act's ban on political involvement, and of participating in the deletion of data from the secure phones of Yoon and Hong.

The first-instance Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Ryu Gyeong-jin, convicted Cho in May only on the perjury and false official document charges, acquitting him on all others. On the dereliction of duty charge, the court said there was a possibility Cho had treated the information he received as mere rumor, and acquitted him. Both the insurrection special prosecutor and Cho's side appealed the verdict.

At the final hearing of the appeal last month, the insurrection special prosecutor asked the court to sentence Cho to seven years in prison, arguing he had "sought to justify the emergency martial law and conceal the unlawful arrest orders."


bell@heraldcorp.com