Appeals court allows secrecy over Cambodian meth supplier’s return, cites evidence destruction fears

An appeals court has ruled that the Ministry of Justice was within its rights to withhold information about the repatriation of an alleged methamphetamine supplier detained in Cambodia, finding that disclosure could allow accomplices to destroy evidence.

The ruling, handed down by the Seoul High Court, reversed a lower court decision and went against the defendant in the underlying smuggling case, who had sought details on when his supplier would be brought back to Korea to face justice.

The defendant was sentenced to 15 years in prison in November 2021 after being convicted of conspiring with an unidentified methamphetamine supplier based in Cambodia to smuggle about 2 kilograms of the drug, worth roughly 100 million won (about $73,000), into Korea. During his trial, he argued that he believed he was receiving health foods and local specialty products from an acquaintance in Cambodia, and did not know the packages contained methamphetamine. The court rejected that defense.

The defendant later filed a criminal complaint against his alleged supplier with the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, but prosecutors suspended the case after determining that the supplier had left the country and could not be located.

In October 2023, the defendant filed a request with the Justice Ministry seeking information on whether and when his alleged supplier would be repatriated to Korea, along with details of the extradition process. The ministry denied the request, citing concerns that disclosure could harm significant national interests. He then sued to overturn that decision.

A lower court initially sided with the defendant, ruling that disclosure was unlikely to significantly impede investigators' work and that the public interest the ministry sought to protect did not clearly outweigh his personal interest in the information. That ruling held that exceptions to disclosure on diplomatic grounds should be applied only to the minimum extent necessary.

The Seoul High Court reached the opposite conclusion on appeal, ruling that the requested information related to an active investigation and that its release could interfere with that investigation.

The appellate judges noted that although the alleged supplier is incarcerated in a Cambodian prison, he is reportedly still using a mobile phone to communicate with accomplices and continuing to direct drug distribution into Korea from behind bars. Releasing details of his repatriation, the court found, would likely reach his accomplices and increase the risk that they would destroy evidence.

BY JO SU-BIN   [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]