A former special inspector of the presidential office, who was charged with leaking classified official secrets, has been sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years.

The Suwon District Court on Friday handed down the sentence to Kim Tae-woo, who was indicted on charges of divulging classified information to the media including the alleged surveillance of civilians by the presidential office.

The court said his actions incited public skepticism over the presidential office's inspection team and the president's right to appoint personnel.

Noting that some people were indicted due partly to the disclosure, the court said the entirety of the defendant's information leak cannot be justified even if parts of it are justifiable.

The court did not accept Kim's argument that he is covered by the Whistleblower Protection Act and anti-corruption laws. It said he could have raised the allegations through other proper institutional channels such as alerting the audit agency or filing a complaint with law enforcement.

While he was aware of those avenues, the court added that he decided to leak the information to the media to cause controversy and, in this respect, his liability for the crime is not light.

Kim is set to appeal the sentence.