Seoul: Former top security officials from former President Moon Jae-in's administration were acquitted Friday on charges of involvement in an alleged cover-up of North Korea's killing of a South Korean fisheries official in 2020. The Seoul Central District Court found former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon, former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won, former Defense Minister Suh-wook, and two others not guilty over their alleged involvement in the case.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the case dates back to September 22, 2020, when the fisheries official, Lee Dae-jun, was fatally shot by North Korean soldiers near the de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, a day after going missing while on board a fishery inspection ship. His body was burned by the North.

At the time, the Moon administration claimed that Lee had sought to defect to the North. However, prosecutors later argued that this announcement was motivated by concerns that the incident could negatively impact inter-Korean relations.