A former researcher has been sentenced to five years in prison for exchanging information with a North Korean spy.

The Seoul Central District Court issued the ruling on Wednesday for Lee Jung-hoon, who was charged with violating the National Security Act in 2021. 

The court ordered Lee detained immediately, calling him a flight risk. 

The court said Lee’s crime was both covert and premeditated, citing that Lee had previously served time for a similar crime. 

Upon hearing the court ruling, Lee called for the abolition of the National Security Act and urged the court to reconsider. 

Prosecutors said Lee met repeatedly with a North Korean spy who entered South Korea disguised as a Japanese Peruvian individual in 2017 and briefed the spy on conservative and liberal forces in the South. 

He was also accused of participating in training related to sending and receiving encrypted directives and reports. 

Lee spent three years in jail after being convicted of briefing a North Korean spy on South Korea’s political trends in 2006.