▲ Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun (Yonhap)

(LEAD) ex-defense minister-trial

(LEAD) Ex-defense minister sentenced to 3-yr prison term for obstruction of justice

(ATTN: UPDATES with details)

SEOUL, May 19 (Yonhap) -- Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun was sentenced to a three-year prison term Tuesday for deceiving the Presidential Security Service into issuing a secure phone for use following former President Yoon Suk Yeol's imposition of martial law.

The Seoul Central District Court handed down the sentence after convicting Kim of obstruction of official duties by deception for obtaining the phone on Dec. 2, 2024, a day before Yoon's martial law declaration, and handing it to Noh Sang-won, a civilian and a former commander of the Defense Intelligence Command.

Noh then used the phone as chief of an investigation team set up to look into election fraud allegations under Yoon's martial law, the court said.

Kim was also found guilty of instigating the destruction of evidence by ordering his aide to get rid of all martial law-related documents on Dec. 5, 2024, a day after the decree was lifted through a vote by the National Assembly.

The three-year prison term is less than the five years sought by special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team. Kim's case was the first indictment by the team after it was launched last June to investigate allegations surrounding Yoon's martial law bid.

The court said Kim's lack of prior criminal convictions was a mitigating factor.

An appellate trial is currently under way for a separate case in which the former minister was sentenced to 30 years in prison for playing a key role in an insurrection through the martial law attempt.

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