A Seoul court Friday sentenced a former major who was part of an anti-espionage military body to 18 months in prison for smuggling strategic arms into Lebanon.
  

Judge Lee Ki-lee of the Seoul Central District Court handed down the ruling, convicting the man, identified by his surname Lee, of smuggling about 47,000 M-16 and AK-47 magazines to Lebanese military supplies importers.
  

Lee met the importers while dispatched to Lebanon as part of the Defense Security Command rom 2007 to 2008. After leaving the DSC, the former major opened a trading company in November 2010 and unlawfully exported the items as automobile parts from July to December 2011. 
  

Lee and his two accomplices were also ordered to pay 317 million won ($270,000) in restitution.
  

"The nature of the crime is serious as Lee, who served in an important military post, orchestrated the crime in pursuit of personal profit," the judge said. (Yonhap)