Suh Hoon, Kim Hong-hee Acquitted Again in Appellate Trial Over 'West Sea Official Killing' Case

Suh Hoon, former Chief of the National Security Office at the Blue House, and Kim Hong-hee, former Commissioner General of the Korea Coast Guard, have been acquitted again in their appellate trial regarding the 2020 killing of a South Korean official in the West Sea.

The Seoul High Court's Criminal Agreement Division 3 (Presiding Judge Lee Seung-han) upheld the lower court's not-guilty verdict today (June 16) for Suh and Kim, who were charged with creating and using false official documents.

The court stated, "While the investigation results announced at the time contained hasty or definitive expressions, it is difficult to conclude that they created and distributed false information that did not align with the truth," thereby rejecting the charges of creating false official documents against the two.

The West Sea official killing case refers to the incident in September 2020 when an official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, identified by the surname Lee, went missing at sea near the West Sea, was discovered by North Korean troops, and was subsequently shot and killed.

Suh was accused of ordering the Coast Guard to distribute false press releases suggesting that the official was still being searched for, while the fact of his killing was being concealed, and of directing the creation and distribution of reports and announcement materials intended to "fabricate" the narrative that the official had attempted to defect to North Korea.

Kim was brought to trial on charges of distributing false materials regarding the possibility of a defection to North Korea in accordance with these instructions.

Previously, the first trial had also acquitted both Suh and Kim.

The prosecution appealed only some of the charges against them, leading to the second trial.

Former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Park Jie-won, former Minister of National Defense Suh Wook, and former NIS Chief of Staff Noh Eun-chae, who were also acquitted in the first trial, had their acquittals finalized as the prosecution did not appeal their cases.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.