SEOUL, May 16 (UPI) -- A former South Korean spy chief who was accused of conducting an online smear campaign during the 2012 South Korean presidential election is now being charged with interfering in discussions regarding North Korea's first lady.
Won Sei-hoon, who led the National Intelligence Service between 2009 and 2013, then was sentenced to three years in prison in 2015, allegedly told his subordinates to engage in a campaign against Ri Sol Ju in 2012, Yonhap reported.
During a follow-up trial in Seoul on Monday, Won's legal counsel informed the presiding judge Kim Si-cheol that Won urged for the "restraint" of excessive press coverage of Ri in 2012, and instructed the NIS' cyber-psychology warfare squad to take action.
The psychology warfare squad was "told to prevent issues surrounding Ri Sol Ju, including the formation of Ri Sol Ju fan clubs, Ri idolization or adulation, by diverting attention to other issues, such as the [2012] London Olympics," Won's legal counsel said in a statement.
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According to the account, Ri's case was the singular instance of personality defamation during Won's term in office.
Won's lawyer also said the defendant never engaged in an online smear campaign that targeted opposition politicians running against current President Park Geun-hye, and that Won never received follow-up reports on the campaign.
Ri came to South Korea public attention in July 2012, when she first appeared alongside North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a performance of Pyongyang's all-women Moranbong Band.
North Korea media introduced Ri as Kim's wife on July 25, 2012.
Won told South Korean parliamentarians the following day Ri was born in 1989 and that she had visited South Korea in 2005 as part of a North Korean cheerleading squad during the Asian Athletics Championships in Incheon.
Won is currently undergoing a retrial.
