By Park Si-soo, Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporters
An appellate military court upheld a lower court verdict, Monday, that found a TV reporter guilty of making a report on a bar at military headquarters in South Chungcheong Province last year without permission.
The military court confirmed a one year prison sentence suspended for two years handed down to MBC reporter Kim Se-eui, 32.
Kim was indicted in 2007 after reporting that the Gyeryongdae military compound near Daejeon was running two bars that employed hostesses. A friend who was an air force officer escorted him into the bars.
In the ruling, the court said, ``Kim trespassed on a military facility without permission, which is illegal. But the suspended sentence was appropriate as he expressed remorse for what he did.''
However, Kim has vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court.
In a telephone interview with The Korea Times, the reporter said, ``This kind of ruling can set a bad precedent for military and intelligence agencies to arbitrarily block reporters' attempts to uncover irregularities at anytime. So I will keep fighting against this ruling.''
Meanwhile, the officer who took Kim into the bars received a suspended jail term in April.