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A civic group employee who copied and leaked the contents of a colleague's KakaoTalk conversation without permission was convicted in the second trial.
The 9th Division of the Criminal Appeals Office of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Yang Kyung-seung) handed down a suspended sentence of a fine of 1 million won to Mr. A, who was charged with violating the Information and Communications Network Act, as in the first trial.
Suspension of sentencing is a judgment in which the sentencing of a sentence for a minor crime is withheld, but after a certain period of time, the right to prosecute disappears and is not prosecuted.
A, an activist belonging to a civic group, is accused of leaking KakaoTalk conversations on his computer while employee B was away in November 2018.
Mr. A copied the contents of Mr. B's conversation with others, moved them to a storage medium, printed them out as documents, and delivered them to other employees.
Mr. A argued that his act was "to secure evidence of Mr. B's misconduct" and that it was a "just act for public interest."
However, the court of the first trial said, "Personal freedom and secrecy are fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and should not be infringed recklessly."
However, Mr. A's main motive for the crime was to promote the public interest, and the sentence of the fine was suspended.
In fact, it was also taken into account that Mr. B was charged with business breach of trust in September 2021.
The second trial court that followed also maintained the guilty verdict, saying, "Even if Mr. B's misconduct is suspected, there does not seem to be an urgent need to use illegal means."
A appealed to the Supreme Court.