Prosecution Office Drops Appeal Over Partial Acquittals of Chung Eui-yong, Suh Hoon, and Kim Yeon-cheol in "Forced Repatriation of North Korean Fishermen" Case

Prosecution Office to Appeal Former Chief of Staff Noh Young-min's Acquittal in Second Trial

The Prosecution Office has decided not to appeal the partial acquittals of former National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, former National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon, and former Unification Minister Kim Yeon-cheol, who were given suspended prison sentences in the appeals trial of the case involving the forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen.

On the 28th, the Seoul Metropolitan Prosecution Office said it would forgo an appeal after prosecutors’ appeal against the first-trial partial acquittals of former Chief Chung, former Director Suh, and former Minister Kim was dismissed.

(From left) former National Security Office Director Chung Euiyong, former National Intelligence Service Director Seo Hoon, former presidential chief of staff Noh Youngmin, and former Unification Minister Kim Yeoncheol. Provided by Yonhap News.

The Prosecution Office had challenged the first-trial acquittals on charges that former Chief Chung and former Director Suh prematurely ended a joint government investigation, and that former Director Suh falsified an internal National Intelligence Service report. The appeals court rejected those arguments. The Prosecution Office determined that the likelihood of success would be low even if it appealed.

On the 21st, the 15-3 Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court, comprising Presiding Judge Sung Eon-ju and Judges Won Ik-seon and Lee Hui-jun, sentenced former Chief Chung and former Director Suh, who were indicted on charges including abuse of authority under the National Intelligence Service Act, to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years. Former Minister Kim was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years.

In the first trial, the court deferred sentencing former Chief Chung and former Director Suh to 10 months in prison each, and former Minister Kim to six months in prison.

The Prosecution Office decided to appeal the acquittal of former presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min in the appeals trial.

The appeals court found it difficult to conclude that former Chief Noh conspired in the abuse-of-authority offense or was involved in the decision to repatriate the fishermen. The Prosecution Office said it would seek a higher court’s ruling on the legal principles governing joint principals.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.