SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) -- A senior incumbent judge lambasted a local court Friday for acquitting a former spy chief of violating election law after he spearheaded an online smear campaign against opposition candidates ahead of the 2012 presidential election.
On Thursday, the Seoul Central District Court found Won Sei-hoon, the former head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), guilty of ordering agents to post politically sensitive comments on major Internet bulletin boards and social media in violation of the law prohibiting officials from intervening in domestic politics.
But Won was acquitted of meddling in the election because of insufficient proof that he had such an intention, according to the court.
"Even toddlers know that the NIS intervened in the 2012 presidential election illegally, thus violating the election law," Kim Dong-jin, a senior judge in Suwon, just south of Seoul, said in a post on the bulletin board for court officials.
"The verdict is like pointing to a deer and calling it a horse," he argued, referring to a Chinese saying for deliberately distorting the facts for ulterior motives.
"How can one intervene in domestic politics without intervening in the election?"
It is highly unusual for a South Korean judge to publicly denounce a verdict delivered by a fellow judge.
The Supreme Court immediately deleted the post as it went viral online and garnered local media attention, citing defamation concerns and violation of the court's code of ethics.
The high-profile election meddling case has gripped South Korea for the past year as a guilty verdict against Won could have hurt the legitimacy of President Park Geun-hye, who was then the ruling party candidate.
Won, a close aide to former President Lee Myung-bak, headed the NIS for about four years until early 2013.
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http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/yonhap-news-agency/140912/sitting-judge-slams-court-ruling-ex-spy-chief
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