Seoul: An appellate court on Tuesday upheld acquittals of a former senior presidential official and a former Coast Guard chief over an alleged cover-up of the 2020 murder of a South Korean fisheries official by North Korea. The Seoul High Court found former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon and former Coast Guard Commissioner General Kim Hong-hee not guilty on charges of drafting false public documents in connection with the alleged cover-up.

According to Yonhap News Agency, in September 2020, the fisheries official, Lee Dae-jun, was fatally shot by North Korean troops near the de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea after going missing while on board a fishery inspection ship. His body was later burned by North Korean soldiers. At the time, then-President Moon Jae-in's administration said Lee had sought to defect to the North, but prosecutors have argued the announcement was driven by concerns the incident could worsen inter-Korean relations.

In its ruling, the appellate court said that while the Moon administration's announcement contained "rash" or "definitive" language, it could not be seen as drafting or distributing "false information that did not conform to the truth." Last December, the Seoul Central District Court acquitted the two men and three other former senior security officials on charges of involvement in the alleged cover-up. The prosecution subsequently appealed the ruling.

Prosecutors accused Suh of ordering the Coast Guard to distribute a press release containing false information that a search for Lee was under way while concealing his death, as well as reports to frame Lee's disappearance as a defection. They alleged Kim followed such orders and distributed false information about the possibility of his defection.