A Seoul court imposed a 10 million won (US$9,600) fine on a ruling-party lawmaker Tuesday for illegally obtaining and leaking a classified transcript of the 2007 inter-Korean summit.

The transcript of the summit talks between late South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il triggered a political firestorm after the Saenuri Party claimed ahead of the 2012 presidential election that Roh had offered to surrender the western sea border, commonly called the Northern Limit Line (NLL), during the meeting in 2007.

Rep. Chung Moon-hun of the ruling Saenuri Party was convicted of relaying details of what he saw in the transcript when he worked as a presidential secretary on reunification affairs to the party's election camp and mentioning them in media interviews.

"Chung is guilty of repeatedly talking about the summit transcript when its authenticity was at the center of controversies," judge Kim Woo-soo of Seoul Central District Court said in his ruling.

Prosecutors had initially sought a 5 million won fine against Rep. Chung. 

Chung first sparked the controversy by claiming during a parliamentary inspection into the Unification Ministry in October 2012 that Roh disavowed the NLL, a de facto maritime border that the North has refused to acknowledge, during the summit.

Following the Tuesday verdict, Chung expressed regret, saying that he will consult with his lawyers before appealing the verdict. (Yonhap)