Ex-top security officials acquitted over alleged cover-up of 2020 border killing by N. Korea

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 the 2020 murder of a South Korean fisheries official by North Korea. The Seoul Central District Court found former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon, former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Park Jie-won and former Defense Minister Suh-wook not guilty over their alleged involvement in the case, citing a lack of evidence. Former Coast Guard Commissioner General Kim Hong-hee and former NIS chief secretary Noh Eun-chae were also acquitted. The case goes back to Sept. 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 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. The case received renWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times