Court orders criminal compensation for former defense minister acquitted in West Sea shooting case

The Ministry of Justice building in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]
The Ministry of Justice building in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]

Jin Hye-won, a senior prosecutor at the Ulsan District Prosecution Office, has been suspended for five months without pay after posting content on SNS that endorsed or criticized candidates of specific political parties.

The Ministry of Justice announced Friday through the official gazette that it had imposed the five-month suspension on Jin under Article 2, Clause 3 of the Prosecutors Disciplinary Act — three years after the Supreme Prosecutors' Office first filed a disciplinary request against Jin. Article 2 of the act defines grounds for disciplinary action, with Clause 3 covering conduct that damages the dignity or reputation of a prosecutor, regardless of whether it is related to official duties.

Article 3 of the same act sets out the types of disciplinary action available: removal from office, dismissal, discharge, suspension, pay reduction and reprimand. A suspension bars the prosecutor from performing official duties for between one and six months and halts salary payments during that time.

The ministry cited violations of Jin's duty to maintain professional conduct as grounds for the discipline. Between 2021 and 2023, Jin posted on a personal Facebook account content endorsing or criticizing candidates of specific parties, content attacking prosecutors handling certain cases, and posts that inflicted secondary harm on the victim in the case involving former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon — and allowed those posts to be reported in the media.

Jin had previously received a one-month suspension in 2022 in connection with posts mocking the victim in the Park case, which Jin had published in 2021.

Jin was also indicted in 2022 on charges including violations of the State Public Officials Act and the Public Official Election Act, as well as defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization, after posting content on Facebook mocking Kim Keon Hee, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, and expressing support for or opposition to candidates of specific parties. Jin was acquitted at both the first and second trials, and the acquittal became final in May last year after prosecutors declined to appeal.

Former Defense Minister Seo Wook leaves the courtroom after being acquitted at the first trial on Dec. 26 last year in the West Sea shooting case. [Yonhap]
Former Defense Minister Seo Wook leaves the courtroom after being acquitted at the first trial on Dec. 26 last year in the West Sea shooting case. [Yonhap]

The same edition of the official gazette carried a notice of a criminal compensation ruling in favor of former Defense Minister Seo Wook, who was tried and ultimately acquitted in the West Sea civil servant shooting case. The Seoul Central District Court published the compensation decision through the gazette Friday.

According to the gazette, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 51 ruled Tuesday that the state must pay Seo 4.75 million won ($3,540) in criminal compensation for his detention and an additional 6.654 million won in cost reimbursement. Seo is set to receive a total of 11.404 million won in criminal compensation.

Seo was tried alongside former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won, now a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker; former Cheong Wa Dae national security director Seo Hoon; former Korea Coast Guard Commissioner General Kim Hong-hee; and former NIS chief of staff Noh Eun-chae, all in connection with the West Sea shooting case.

A first-instance court acquitted Seo and the other defendants in December last year. Prosecutors appealed only some of the charges against former national security director Seo Hoon and former commissioner general Kim, dropping the rest. Seo Wook's acquittal became final as a result.

Seo Hoon and Kim were also acquitted at the appellate level in June. Prosecutors declined to appeal further, making their acquittals final as well.


bell@heraldcorp.com