Prosecution Indicts Jeong U-yong, Noh Young-min, Suh Hoon, and Kim Yeon-cheol for 'Forced Repatriation of North Korean Fishermen' (Comprehensive)

The prosecution investigating the 'Forced Repatriation of North Korean Fishermen Incident' indicted former National Security Office Chief Chung Eui-yong, former Presidential Chief of Staff Noh Young-min, former National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon, and former Minister of Unification Kim Yeon-chul, among other senior officials of the Moon Jae-in administration, on the 28th.

The Public Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Jun-beom) filed charges against them without detention on suspicion of abuse of authority under the National Intelligence Service Act and other charges.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeong Eui-yong / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Former Chief Chung and others are accused of ordering public officials of related agencies to perform duties not required of them by forcibly sending back two North Korean fishermen who had expressed their intention to defect despite being identified as having killed 16 fellow crew members in November 2019. They are also charged with obstructing the fishermen from exercising their right to be tried according to domestic laws and procedures.

Former Director Suh is also accused of preparing and distributing false reports (forgery and use of false official documents) by deleting the fishermen's defection requests from the Central Joint Intelligence Investigation Team's investigation report and recording the investigation as concluded even though it was still ongoing. The indictments against former Chief Chung and former Director Suh include charges of halting the Central Joint Intelligence Investigation prematurely after the decision to forcibly repatriate was made.

The two North Korean fishermen were captured by the military near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea on November 2, 2019, while heading south by fishing boat. At that time, the government stated that those who committed serious non-political crimes such as murder were not subjects of protection and repatriated them to the North five days after their capture.

Seohun, Former Director of the National Security Office

However, the prosecution judged that since these North Korean fishermen are also citizens under the Constitution, forcibly sending them back to North Korea without following domestic judicial procedures was illegal. It concluded that this decision was led by former Chief Chung, who acted as the control tower of the security line, and that the repatriation was unlawfully carried out through the National Intelligence Service and the Ministry of Unification.

Former Chief of Staff Noh Young-min was investigated to have been involved in deciding the forced repatriation policy by presiding over a Blue House countermeasure meeting on November 4, 2019, two days after the capture.

However, the prosecution found that former President Moon Jae-in was not involved in this decision-making process and saw no need for further investigation or inquiry.

Meanwhile, former Director Suh Hoon is currently on trial after being detained and indicted on charges of attempting to cover up the 'West Sea Public Official Shooting Incident' during his tenure as National Security Office Chief. Former Chief of Staff Noh Young-min is also under investigation and has been banned from leaving the country on suspicion of interfering in the employment process of former Democratic Party Deputy Secretary-General Lee Jung-geun.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.