In 2007, former President Baek Jong-cheon, head of the Unified Foreign Security Policy Office and former President Cho Myun Kyun, Secretary of the Unified Foreign Security Policy, were sentenced to probation in the destruction transfer trial for deleting the document management card attached to the minutes of the 2007 North-South Summit meeting. In November 2013, it was only nine years since he was indicted.
On the 9th, the Seoul High Law Criminal Division 8(Deputy Chief Judge Bae Hyung-won)sentenced Baek and former Secretary Cho, who were accused of violating the Presidential Records Management Act and damaging public electronic records, to one year in prison and two years of probation, respectively, for “unauthorized destruction of historical records that should be left to posterity.”
Earlier, the first and second court ruled that the document card containing the herbal files of the minutes of the meeting could not be viewed as a presidential record. Although the document card produced the signature of former President Roh Moo-hyun’s electronic document, there was no final decision as former President Roh ordered a review of the minutes of the meeting. However, the Supreme Court decided otherwise that the document card was a presidential record that had been viewed and verified by the president, and returned the case to Seoul High Law with the intent of guilty.
The incident began in advance of the 2012 Presidential Election, when the Saenuri Party(now the power of the People)claimed that “Former President Noh made remarks at the North-South Summit about the abandonment of the North-South Limit Line(NLL).” In July of the following year, the Saenuri Party, which confirmed that the minutes of the North-South Summit meeting were not kept in the presidential archives, accused former Secretary Joe and others of prosecution.
Kim Tae-sung Reporter [email protected]