Korea's ex-police chief guilty of defaming late President Roh

Seoul, Feb 20 (Kyodo) A South Korean court sentenced a former police chief today to 10 months imprisonment for making defamatory remarks about the late President Roh Moo Hyun. Cho Hyun Oh, the former commissioner general of the National Police Agency, was found guilty of defaming Roh by claiming police found large amounts of money kept in a borrowed-name bank account the night before the former president jumped to his death. Cho made the remarks while commenting on the motive for Roh's suicide in a meeting with police officials in March 2010. After an investigation, prosecutors found nothing to confirm the allegations. In the ruling, the court said the borrowed-name bank account didn't belong to the former president, saying there is no data backing up his argument. "(He) should be held liable for spreading false information in the public after forgetting his status," Judge Lee Sung Ho was quoted as saying in his ruling. The former president jumped off a cliff behind his retirement home to his death in May 2009, a year after leaving office, amid a widening probe by prosecutors over allegations that his family members accepted illicit funds. The 57-year-old Cho was imprisoned immediately after the Seoul Central District Court handed down the verdict. (Kyodo) GVS 02201531 NNNN