Supreme Court Overturns One-Year Sentence for Officer Accused of Leaking Hwang Ui-jo Investigation Details

South Korea’s Supreme Court has sent back the case of a police officer convicted of leaking investigation information linked to footballer Hwang Ui-jo’s illegal-filming case, saying the evidence did not support the conviction.

The officer, identified by the surname Jo, worked for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s cyber investigation unit in January 2024. Prosecutors accused him of passing information about Hwang’s case to an acquaintance who was a lawyer. Investigators said the information later reached another broker. Hwang’s side, which was under investigation at the time, alleged that the broker demanded money in exchange for stopping or influencing the investigation and referred to the location and timing of a planned search.

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Even if there were doubts about the first court’s judgment, the court should not have immediately overturned it. It should have made a careful decision after additional evidence-gathering procedures, such as examining witnesses.

A district court acquitted Jo, saying prosecutors had not proved beyond reasonable doubt that he disclosed search-related information. An appeals court reversed that decision and imposed a one-year prison sentence. It cited Jo’s relationship with the lawyer, phone records around the search, and the fact that he changed his phone and erased data from a Telegram account before and after police questioning.

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When guilt is established only through circumstantial evidence without direct evidence, the proof must be overwhelmingly stronger than the inference that the defendant committed the crime.

The Supreme Court’s First Division ruled that the appeals court had relied only on circumstantial evidence and had not conducted sufficient examination before changing the first court’s conclusion. It said circumstantial evidence must be overwhelmingly strong when no direct evidence exists. The court also said the appeals judges should have considered additional procedures, including witness testimony, even if they had doubts about the original acquittal.

Jo’s case will return to the Seoul Central District Court. The first hearing in the retrial is scheduled for the 21st of next month.

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It is difficult to recognize, based only on the circumstantial evidence submitted by the prosecution, that the defendant disclosed the search information in this case to the lawyer.