Intelligence trainee jailed for leaking officials' identities

A woman, identified as Ms. Chou, has been sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for leaking the identities of National Security Bureau (NSB) training center officials. The sentence was upheld in a retrial at the High Court.

Chou was admitted to the NSB's special examination for national security intelligence personnel in 2017 and began training in March 2018, using an alias as required. During her training, she received courses on counter-intelligence and national intelligence work, and was aware of the need to maintain secrecy regarding intelligence personnel's identities.

However, Chou was dismissed from the training program due to unsatisfactory academic performance. Following her dismissal, she posted the real names, aliases, and ranks of the training center's director and deputy director on the PTT public forum, specifically in the civil servant section.

The NSB discovered the leak and reported it to the authorities. Chou admitted to making the post but claimed she was unaware that real names and aliases were considered confidential. Prosecutors argued that she had signed a confidentiality agreement during training and was aware that intelligence personnel identities must be kept secret. She was indicted for violating the National Intelligence Work Act by leaking intelligence information.

Both the first and second trials found Chou guilty of leaking intelligence information and sentenced her to three years and eight months. The Supreme Court overturned the previous ruling and remanded the case for retrial, but the High Court's retrial has again upheld the original sentence.