South Korean ex-top security officials acquitted over alleged cover-up of 2020 border killing by North
Published: 26 Dec. 2025, 19:28
![Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of a South Korean fisheries official shot to death by North Korean soldiers in 2020, speaks to reporters ahead of a trial of former top security officials charged with allegedly covering up the official's death at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on Dec. 26. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/12/26/14f0d580-623f-46a9-bdd4-a26bea1d962d.jpg)
Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of a South Korean fisheries official shot to death by North Korean soldiers in 2020, speaks to reporters ahead of a trial of former top security officials charged with allegedly covering up the official's death at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on Dec. 26. [YONHAP]
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 a 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 vessel. 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 renewed attention after the launch of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's administration in 2022, with the state audit agency requesting the prosecution investigate the case.
Prosecutors indicted the former security adviser on charges of instructing the military and the Coast Guard the day after Lee's killing to keep the case confidential.
The former Coast Guard chief was indicted on charges of acting on Suh's orders and distributing reportedly false documents about the possibility of the official's defection.
The former defense minister, Park and Noh were charged with ordering the deletion of intelligence and documents as part of the alleged cover-up.
Prosecutors requested a four-year prison term for the former security adviser, a two-year term for Park and a three-year term for the former defense minister.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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