▲ Moon Sang-ho, former head of the Defense Intelligence Command (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- Moon Sang-ho, former head of the Defense Intelligence Command (DIC), was acquitted by a court Friday of leaking military secrets to Noh Sang-won, his predecessor as DIC chief, ahead of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law in 2024.

The Seoul Central District Court issued the ruling after finding Moon not guilty of leaking military secrets to Noh.

Moon was indicted for leaking information about classified military missions and directives issued by then Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun to Noh on Dec. 2, 2024, just one day before Yoon declared martial law.

Investigators found that Moon made remarks such as "special forces, mission and equipment," "I report to you about our missions (due to request from Kim)" and "(Kim) told us to get ready" during a phone call with Noh.

But the court said there was insufficient evidence to conclude that Moon's remarks provided Noh with information beyond what the latter already knew.

Separately, Moon was sentenced to a two-year prison term in June for colluding with Kim to provide Noh with the personal details of about 40 DIC agents, who were later assigned to investigating allegations of election fraud under the short-lived martial law.

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