SEOUL — A pro-North ex-lawmaker had his nine-year sentence for inciting rebellion upheld by the South Korean Supreme Court on Thursday.

In the final ruling the court upheld the original sentence for former United Progressive Party lawmaker Lee Seok-ki on charges of inciting rebellion and praising the North.

In a series of secret meetings Lee and members of the UPP, which was disbanded by the Constitutional Court in December, had reportedly discussed preparing “materially and technically” in case of war on the Korean Peninsula.

According to the prosecution and the National Intelligence Service, the South Korean spy agency that began