S. Korea - The high court has upheld a lower court's ruling that found two former heads of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) guilty for their involvement in the agency's illegal wiretapping of phone conversations of high-profile figures.
The Seoul High Court Thursday confirmed the sentences on Lim Dong-won, 73, and Shin Gunn, 66, former NIS directors during the Kim Dae-jung administration (1998-2003) of three years imprisonment suspended for four years.
"The tapping team operated 24 hours a day and Lim and Shin were aware of the operation," the court said in its ruling.
They regularly received reports of cell phone conversations of political and business leaders, journalists and even ordinary citizens, it said.
"Consequently the two were aware that the information was collected through illegal eavesdropping," the court said. (more)
