Appeals court upholds 1-year prison term, 2-year suspension handed down at trial

Lee Eun-woo, former head of the Korea Policy Broadcasting Service (KTV), who faces insurrection propaganda charges in connection with the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration, leaves Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu after a pretrial detention hearing on May 21, taking questions from reporters. [Yonhap]
Lee Eun-woo, former head of the Korea Policy Broadcasting Service (KTV), who faces insurrection propaganda charges in connection with the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration, leaves Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu after a pretrial detention hearing on May 21, taking questions from reporters. [Yonhap]

Lee Eun-woo, former head of the Korea Policy Broadcasting Service (KTV), received a suspended prison sentence on appeal Wednesday after being charged with ordering the deletion of broadcast captions critical of the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration.

The Seoul High Court's First Criminal Division, presided over by Judge Yun Seong-sik, upheld the lower court's sentence of one year in prison, suspended for two years, on charges of abuse of authority obstructing the exercise of rights.

"It is difficult to view the original sentence as either excessively harsh or lenient," the court said, rejecting sentencing appeals filed by both the defendant and the prosecution.

Lee is accused of ordering KTV's broadcasting news director and editing team leader to selectively delete scroll news tickers critical of the emergency martial law declaration between 1:37 a.m. and 4:04 a.m. on Dec. 4, 2024, shortly after then-President Yoon Suk Yeol proclaimed martial law.

The court found that Lee's order to selectively delete the tickers "violated the fairness and balance of broadcasting as required under the Broadcasting Act and infringed on the public's right to know." It further ruled that the conduct constituted an abuse of authority, saying the circumstances showed "a degree of illegality and impropriety that cannot be regarded as the proper exercise of official duties."

Lee's defense argued that the scheduling and management of scroll news tickers fell within his authority as director and therefore could not constitute an abuse of authority, but the court rejected that argument.

The court acknowledged that scroll news scheduling and management fell within Lee's official authority, but noted that the Broadcasting Act and KTV's internal editorial guidelines set specific standards and procedures for such decisions. It added that frontline staff also held independent decision-making authority over scroll news content, meaning they had their own defined role in applying those standards and procedures.

The court went on to say that Lee's instruction to delete scroll news tickers in violation of Broadcasting Act obligations "constitutes causing someone to perform an act they have no duty to perform."

In explaining the sentencing, the court noted that Lee "continues, even at this stage of appeal, to refuse to acknowledge his wrongdoing and appears to shift responsibility onto his subordinates — the broadcasting news director and the editing team leader."

However, the court noted a mitigating factor: the deletion order and its execution took place after the National Assembly had passed a resolution demanding the lifting of emergency martial law and after the special news coverage had ended, meaning "the degree of infringement on the public's right to know caused by Lee's deletion order was limited." Taking these circumstances into account, the court said it could not find that the original sentence fell outside a reasonable range.


yg@heraldcorp.com