Seoul: Former top security officials from the administration of former South Korean President Moon Jae-in have been acquitted on charges linked to an alleged cover-up following the 2020 murder of a South Korean fisheries official by North Korean soldiers. The Seoul Central District Court delivered the verdict, clearing former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon, former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Park Jie-won, and former Defense Minister Suh-wook of any wrongdoing due to insufficient evidence.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the court also acquitted former Coast Guard Commissioner General Kim Hong-hee and former NIS chief secretary Noh Eun-chae. The case centers around the incident on September 22, 2020, when fisheries official Lee Dae-jun was shot and killed by North Korean soldiers near the maritime border in the Yellow Sea. His body was subsequently burned by the North Korean military. Initially, the Moon administration claimed that Lee was attempting to defect to North Korea, a conclusion that prosecutors later argued was made to avoid straining inter-Korean relations.

The case was revisited after President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in 2022, leading the state audit agency to urge a prosecution investigation. Prosecutors alleged that the former security adviser instructed the military and Coast Guard to keep the matter confidential following Lee's death. Furthermore, the former Coast Guard chief was accused of carrying out Suh's orders and distributing documents falsely suggesting Lee's defection.

Additional charges were brought against the former defense minister, Park, and Noh, accusing them of ordering the deletion of intelligence and documents as part of the alleged cover-up. Prosecutors had sought a four-year prison sentence for Suh Hoon, two years for Park Jie-won, and three years for Suh-wook, but all charges were ultimately dismissed by the court.