Victim's family had filed complaints alleging destruction of official electronic records

Decisions issued Sept. 29, ahead of prosecution office restructuring

Former anti-corruption chief Jeon Hyun-hee's case dismissed on procedural grounds

(From left) Former presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min, former Unification Minister Lee In-young and former Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission chief Jeon Hyun-hee. [The Herald Business DB]
(From left) Former presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min, former Unification Minister Lee In-young and former Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission chief Jeon Hyun-hee. [The Herald Business DB]

Prosecutors declined to indict former presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min over the 2020 West Sea shooting death of a South Korean fisheries official. Former Unification Minister Lee In-young, now a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, and former Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission chief Jeon Hyun-hee were also cleared.

The former Public Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office — now the Public and Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecution Office, headed by Yun Su-jeong — issued non-indictment decisions on Sept. 29 for Noh and Lee on charges of destroying official electronic records, citing insufficient evidence. Jeon's case, which involved charges of invalidating official documents and abuse of authority, was dismissed on procedural grounds.

Former Korea Coast Guard Commissioner Kim Hong-hee, who faced charges of obstruction of official duties and abuse of authority, was also cleared on grounds of insufficient evidence. A separate charge against Kim of fabricating official documents was dismissed for lack of grounds to prosecute.

The case stems from September 2020, when Lee Dae-jun, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official, was shot and killed by North Korean forces in waters near Soyeonpyeong Island in Ongjin-gun, Incheon. The Korea Coast Guard at the time concluded that Lee had crossed into North Korean territory of his own accord to flee his circumstances.

Noh and Lee In-young both attended an emergency security ministers' meeting held immediately after the incident. Also present were then-presidential national security adviser Suh Hoon, then-National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won — now a Democratic Party lawmaker — and then-Defense Minister Suh Wook.

Lee Dae-jun's older brother, Lee Rae-jin, filed a complaint in October 2022 alleging that the NIS and the Defense Ministry had deleted intelligence related to his brother, and calling for an investigation into whether Noh and Lee In-young had conspired in the deletions.

Lee Rae-jin also named former Coast Guard Commissioner Kim in the complaint, demanding an investigation into whether Kim had conspired to fabricate the defection narrative during the interim investigation results announcement in October 2020. He filed a separate complaint against Jeon, alleging she had attempted to delete records of a briefing she had received on the case.

With the restructuring of the prosecution service and the imminent launch of a new prosecution office, prosecutors issued the non-indictment decisions on Sept. 29 — four years after the complaints were filed — wrapping up the investigation into Moon administration figures including Noh. On Sept. 24, prosecutors had also declined to indict former NIS Director Park and former national security adviser Suh Hoon on charges of violating the Board of Audit and Inspection Act by refusing to appear for questioning.

Earlier, in July, prosecutors cleared former President Moon Jae-in of charges including abuse of authority, fabrication of official documents and use of fabricated official documents, citing insufficient evidence. Prosecutors said they could not establish that Moon had conspired with ministers and other officials to delete intelligence related to the case or to produce false official documents about the circumstances of Lee's death.

Moon administration figures who had been indicted and tried in connection with the West Sea shooting case were all acquitted.

In 2022, prosecutors indicted former national security adviser Suh Hoon, former Coast Guard Commissioner Kim, former NIS Director Park, former Defense Minister Suh Wook and former NIS chief of staff Noh Eun-chae on charges including abuse of authority. Suh Hoon was accused of directing Kim and others to maintain secrecy at the emergency security ministers' meeting in order to conceal the shooting. Kim faced charges of distributing false materials. The remaining three defendants were accused of ordering NIS and Defense Ministry employees to delete related intelligence and documents in line with the secrecy directive.

The trial court acquitted all five defendants in December last year, finding that intent to conceal had not been proven. Prosecutors appealed against Suh Hoon and Kim on charges of fabricating and distributing official documents, defamation and posthumous defamation, but did not appeal the abuse-of-authority charges.

The appellate court upheld the acquittals for Suh Hoon and Kim in June. Prosecutors reviewed the ruling and chose not to seek a further appeal, leaving all five defendants with final acquittals.


bell@heraldcorp.com