Summary Won Sei-Hoon, who resigned in March last year, was convicted of accepting 160 million won in bribes.
SEOUL (AFP) - A South Korean court on Wednesday sentenced the former head of the country s domestic spy agency to two years in prison for taking bribes.
Won Sei-Hoon, who resigned in March last year after four years at the head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), was convicted of accepting 160 million won ($150,000) in bribes from the former head of a construction company while in office.
"Heavy punishment is inevitable because the nature of the crime is severe," Seoul Central District Court judge Lee Bum-Kyun said in pronouncing sentence Wednesday.
In a separate case, the 63-year-old spy chief faces charges of meddling in the 2012 presidential election by allegedly organising an online smear campaign against the opposition party candidate.
The court is scheduled to deliver a verdict for the second charge in February, court officials said.
