The Supreme Court upheld a lower court's two-year prison term for a senior Air Force officer convicted of putting pressure on master sergeant Lee Ye-ram before her death, in an attempt to deter her from reporting a sexual assault incident involving a male superior of the same rank.

In its decision on Friday, the top court confirmed the sentence for the warrant officer on the basis that there are no grounds for concern over a possible legal misunderstanding.

The officer in question was indicted for abusing his authority over the late master sergeant to stop her from publicizing the March 2021 incident, in which the latter was sexually assaulted by her superior within the Air Force's 20th Fighter Wing.

The warrant officer himself was also accused of molesting Lee in July 2020.

An investigation by a special prosecution team concluded that the Air Force's mishandling of the case, including a cover-up attempt and defamation of the victim, led to her death by suicide in May 2021.

Lee's primary abuser, meanwhile, was indicted and sentenced to nine years in prison, but a reduction by an appeals court to seven years was later upheld by the top court.