'Seohaepigyeok' Seo Hoon Appears for Warrant Hearing, Responds to Reporters' Questions with "..."

Former National Security Office Director Suh Hoon, who was the top official in the Moon Jae-in administration's North Korea security line during the 'West Sea Public Official Shooting Incident,' is attending the warrant hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Seo Hoon, former head of the National Security Office and the top official in the Moon Jae-in administration's North Korea security line, faced the crossroads of detention on the 2nd. This is the first time the prosecution has requested an arrest warrant for a senior official of the previous administration's Blue House in connection with the 'West Sea Public Official Shooting Incident.'

Seo's pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant substantive examination) is underway from 10 a.m. today under the presiding of Judge Kim Jeongmin, who is in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court. Seo, who arrived at the court around 9:44 a.m., entered the courtroom where the hearing was held without responding to reporters' questions such as 'how he would explain' and 'whether there was an order from former President Moon Jae-in.'

At the scene, Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Hae-cheol and others, after observing Seo's attendance, emphasized to the press, "It is not right to apply judicial standards to the policy decisions made by the government at that time," and "Many of the materials used for the judgment have not changed at all." Seo will be transferred to Seoul Detention Center as soon as the hearing is over to await the decision on the warrant issuance. The result is expected late at night on the same day or early morning on the 3rd.

On the 29th of last month, the Public Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Heedong) requested an arrest warrant for Seo. Seo was the highest-ranking official in the Blue House's diplomatic and security line in September 2020 when Lee Dae-jun, a public official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, was killed by North Korean soldiers. He is accused of abuse of authority, obstruction of rights, and falsification and use of false official documents for hastily concluding Lee's 'voluntary defection to the North' at a ministerial meeting held around 1 a.m. on September 23, 2020, the day after Lee's death, and ordering related ministries to delete confidential intelligence that contradicted this.

Seo's side denies the charges, stating, "It is unimaginable to attempt to cover up the incident." In a statement released on the 30th of last month, they said, "At that time, related intelligence was shared among several ministries including the Ministry of National Defense, the National Intelligence Service, the National Security Office, and the Ministry of Unification, and if including the working-level staff, more than 200 to 300 people knew about it, so it is unimaginable to attempt a cover-up. However, maintaining confidentiality until the official announcement to protect the source and verify the reliability of the intelligence is only natural." They also added, "This case involved policy decisions based on various intelligence collected from multiple ministries in a serious and urgent national security situation, and it is difficult to accept judicial judgment on this retrospectively."

Regarding this case, former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won is also suspected of ordering the deletion of internal intelligence reports, so the prosecution may investigate the involvement of former President Moon if Seo's custody is secured. However, if Seo's warrant is dismissed, the six-month-long prosecution investigation is expected to lose momentum and conclude with the collective indictment of suspects, with Park's summons being the last.