Prosecution not to appeal partial acquittal of ex-officials in 2019 deportation of N. Koreans
SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors on Wednesday decided not to appeal the pa...
On Wednesday, prosecutors made the decision not to challenge the partial acquittals of three former government officials accused in connection with the forced repatriation of two North Korean fishermen in 2019. Earlier in the month, the Seoul High Court confirmed guilty verdicts against Chung Eui-yong, former national security adviser; Suh Hoon, former National Intelligence Service Director; and Kim Yeon-chul, former Unification Minister.
However, the court also dismissed the charges of false public documents against the same trio, acquitting them of those specific allegations. Noh Young-min, former presidential chief of staff, received an acquittal as well, having previously been convicted for his role in the case. The appellate court's decision to acquit Chung, Suh, and Kim of the false document charges remained unchanged.
The Seoul High Prosecutors Office communicated their intention not to appeal these partial acquittals, basing their choice on the low likelihood of the acquittals being reversed. Nonetheless, the prosecutors pledged to appeal Noh's acquittal. All four individuals were part of former President Moon Jae-in's administration during the November 2019 incident, when Seoul repatriated the two North Korean fishermen who were apprehended.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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