Court sentences 3 ex-officials to suspended prison terms over 2019 deportation of N. Koreans
An appellate court on Wednesday handed down suspended prison terms for three former officials for forcibly repatriating two North Korean fishermen in 2019 despite their intention to defect to South Korea. The Seoul High Court upheld a lower court's guilty verdicts for Chung Eui-yong, former national security adviser; former National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon; and former Unification…
On Wednesday, an appellate court handed down suspended prison terms for three former officials involved in the 2019 deportation of two North Korean fishermen. The Seoul High Court upheld guilty verdicts issued by a lower court against Chung Eui-yong, a former national security adviser; Suh Hoon, a former Director of the National Intelligence Service; and Kim Yeon-chul, a former Unification Minister.
The high court acquitted Noh Young-min, a former chief of staff to President Moon Jae-in, who had previously been convicted in connection with the case. All four individuals served in former President Moon Jae-in's administration when the deportations took place in November 2019. The fishermen were captured near the eastern maritime border and accused of murdering 16 crew members.
Their intent to defect to South Korea, a country that accepts North Korean defectors, sparked widespread outrage as the deportation occurred despite this. Initially, a lower court found all four former officials guilty but postponed their sentencing. The appellate court, however, issued the suspended prison terms.
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