S. Korea's ex-defense minister sentenced to 3 years in prison for leaking military secrets

SEOUL -- South Korea's former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun on Friday was sentenced to three years in prison for leaking military secrets.

The Seoul Central District Court handed down the prison sentence to Kim for passing a list of some 40 agents from the Defense Intelligence Command (DIC)'s special forces unit to a former DIC commander, then a civilian, between October and November 2024, to establish an investigative unit under an emergency martial law.

The team of Cho Eun-suk, a special counsel who led investigations into former President Yoon Suk-yeol's insurrection and other charges, demanded a five-year prison term for Kim.

Kim already received a 30-year prison sentence in February for his key role in the insurrection stemming from Yoon's declaration of emergency martial law in December 2024.

The former defense minister was handed another 30-year prison term last week for general treason linked to the infiltration of drones into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Yoon was sentenced to life in prison for the insurrection and 30 years in prison for the general treason.