Special counsel seeks 5-yr prison term for former Army officer linked to martial law

SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) -- A special counsel team on Friday sought a five-year prison sentence for a former chief of a military intelligence unit for leaking military secrets in the lead-up to former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed 2024 martial law bid. Special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team made the sentencing recommendation for Moon Sang-ho, a former chief of the Defense Intelligence Command, at the Seoul Central District Court on charges of violating military law and the personal information protection law. Moon is accused of colluding with former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun to hand over a list of some 40 of his unit's agents to Noh Sang-won, a retired general, to form an electoral fraud investigation team under Yoon's martial law, which was ended by the National Assembly only hours after it was declared on Dec. 3, 2024. "This is a serious matter, given that if the (unit's) agents are identified due to the list's exposure, they could become direct targets of terrorist forces or others," Cho's team said. The team earlier requested a five-year prison term for the former defense minister over the same allegation. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court confirmed a two-year prison sentence for Noh for collecting the personal information of the military intelligence agents. Moon Sang-ho, a former commander of the Defense Intelligence Command, speaks at the National Assembly in western Seoul, in this file photo taken Dec. 10, 2024. (Yonhap) yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr(END)