Prosecution Appeals Against Suh Hoon and Kim Honghee in 'West Sea Shooting Incident'... Drops Appeal for Park Jie-won

The prosecution has appealed part of the 'West Sea government official shooting incident' case, in which the defendants were acquitted in the first trial.

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

On January 2, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office filed an appeal against former National Security Office Director Suh Hoon and former Korea Coast Guard Commissioner General Kim Honghee on charges including falsification and use of official documents, defamation, and defamation of the deceased.

For other defendants, such as former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won and former Defense Minister Suh Wook, who were indicted together, the prosecution decided not to appeal, resulting in their acquittals being finalized.

The prosecution explained, "We have filed an appeal regarding the parts where the results of the investigation were announced as if the deceased had voluntarily defected to North Korea, even though whether he actually defected was unclear, which led to defamation of the deceased and his family."

The prosecution added, "For the remaining charges, we decided not to appeal after considering whether there would be any practical benefit in doing so."

On December 26, the 25th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Ji Guyoun) acquitted former Director Suh, who had been indicted on charges including abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights. Former NIS Director Park, former Defense Minister Suh, and former Coast Guard Commissioner General Kim, who were indicted together, were also acquitted.

After the first trial verdict, President Lee Jaemyung said at a cabinet meeting, "They prosecuted based on a strange logic and were ultimately found not guilty. How can it be justified to investigate a non-existent case and attempt to send people to prison?" He effectively called for the prosecution to consider dropping the appeal. Prime Minister Kim Minseok also insisted, "The prosecution should, of course, forgo the appeal."

It is reported that there were opinions within the prosecution, including among the investigation team, that the case should be reviewed by the appellate court.

After much deliberation, the prosecution leadership decided on the last day of the appeal period to limit the appeal to only certain charges, excluding parts related to the policy decisions of high-ranking security officials from the Moon Jae-in administration.