Former President Moon Jae-in. [Yonhap]
Former President Moon Jae-in. [Yonhap]

Prosecutors have decided not to indict former President Moon Jae-in on charges of abuse of power and falsification of official documents related to the 2020 West Sea shooting incident, finding insufficient evidence. The decision came roughly three years and seven months after a civic group filed the complaint.

The Public Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (chief prosecutor Yun Su-jeong) on Wednesday declined to indict Moon on charges of abuse of power, obstruction of rights, preparation of false official documents and use of falsified official documents, citing insufficient evidence.

Prosecutors had previously declined to indict Moon in September last year on separate charges of dereliction of duty and defamation, filed by the family of the late Lee Dae-jun — the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official killed in the incident — who alleged that Moon had received a report from then-National Security Office chief Suh Hoon indicating Lee was in North Korean waters before going missing, yet issued no rescue order. Prosecutors had, however, continued their investigation into the abuse-of-power allegations.

In September 2020, Lee went missing in the West Sea and was later shot and killed by North Korean forces. The Korea Coast Guard announced at the time that Lee was believed to have defected to the North voluntarily, driven by a state of mental panic and a desire to escape reality.

The Board of Audit and Inspection launched an audit of the incident in 2022 and subsequently referred the case to prosecutors. The National Intelligence Service also filed a complaint against Park Jie-won, who had served as NIS director at the time of the incident.

Prosecutors indicted Suh, the former National Security Office chief, in December of that year on charges that included directing the Korea Coast Guard to distribute false press releases suggesting a search was underway while concealing the fact that Lee had been shot. Park and others were also referred to trial the same month on charges including violations of the National Intelligence Service Act.

After prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for Suh, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Yun Geon-young read out a statement on Moon's behalf, saying "the West Sea incident was one in which the then-president directly received reports from the Ministry of National Defense, the Korea Coast Guard and the National Intelligence Service, and gave final approval based on those reports."

The statement went on to say, "At the time, security agencies analyzed all available information and circumstances in a situation where it was impossible to establish the facts clearly, and made inferences within the bounds of what was possible. The president reviewed what is known as special intelligence firsthand and accepted their judgment."

In response, the civic group Jayu Daehan Hogukdan filed a complaint with prosecutors in December 2022, arguing that Moon himself had stated the then-president directly received reports from the Defense Ministry, the Korea Coast Guard and the NIS and gave final approval — effectively declaring himself the final approving authority.

Prosecutors, however, declined to indict on that complaint three years and seven months later.

Meanwhile, Suh's acquittal has been finalized at the Seoul High Court. The court's Criminal Division 3 (presiding judge Lee Seung-han) upheld the not-guilty verdict on June 16, in line with the first-instance ruling. Prosecutors then chose not to appeal to the Supreme Court, making the acquittal final. The Seoul High Prosecutors' Office said it had "carefully reviewed the prospects of a successful appeal of the second-instance ruling and, after consultations with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, decided not to file an appeal."

Former NIS Director Park and former Defense Minister Seo Wook were acquitted at trial in December last year, and their acquittals were also finalized after prosecutors declined to appeal.


bell@heraldcorp.com