South Korea's Supreme Court has upheld a suspended prison sentence for former lawmaker Kang Hyo-sang, who was convicted of leaking confidential details of a phone call between the presidents of South Korea and the United States.
The Supreme Court's First Division, led by Justice Noh Tae-ak, confirmed in January the lower court's ruling of six months in prison with a one-year suspension for Kang, a former member of the Liberty Korea Party, now the People Power Party. A former minister-counselor at the South Korean Embassy in Washington, identified only as "A," also received a suspended four-month sentence.
Kang was indicted for receiving and disclosing details of a May 2019 phone call between then-President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump regarding Trump's planned visit to South Korea. The information was passed to Kang by "A," a high school acquaintance.
On the same day as the call, Kang held a press conference at the National Assembly announcing that "President Moon requested President Trump's visit to Korea during their phone conversation." The call's contents were classified as Level 3 confidential by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Investigators found that Kang had requested the information from "A," claiming it would only be used as reference for his legislative activities. Following the incident, the Democratic Party of Korea and the Foreign Ministry filed criminal complaints against both individuals, and "A" was subsequently dismissed from his post.
The first court ruling in September 2022 stated that "specific details regarding a U.S. presidential visit must be strictly protected as confidential until officially announced to maintain diplomatic trust between nations." The court added that "holding a press conference and posting press releases on Facebook and his website can be viewed as collecting classified information with intent to disclose."
The appeals court rejected Kang's arguments that he lacked intent to leak diplomatic secrets, that parliamentary immunity applied, and that his actions constituted legitimate conduct. The Supreme Court affirmed these findings, ruling that the lower courts made no errors in their interpretation of laws regarding diplomatic secret leaks and parliamentary privilege.