4 ex-ministerial officials indicted over alleged involvement in N.K. deportation case

SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Yonhap) -- Four ministerial-level figures of the previous Moon Jae-in government were indicted Tuesday over their alleged involvement in the forced repatriation of two North Korean fishermen in 2019, prosecution officials said.

The four are former national security adviser and foreign minister Chung Eui-yong; Noh Young-min, former presidential chief of staff; Suh Hoon, former chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS); and former unification minister Kim Yeon-chul.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office indicted them without detention on charges, including abuse of authority under the NIS law, in connection with the controversial deportation case, the officials said.

In November 2019, the Moon government sent back the fishermen captured near the eastern inter-Korean sea border, saying the North Koreans confessed to killing 16 fellow crew members.

The four are suspected of forcing officials of the relevant government agencies to deport the fishermen despite their wishes to defect to South Korea.

They are also accused of obstructing the fishermen from exercising their rights to be tried here in accordance with South Korean laws and procedures.

In particular, Suh is additionally charged with deleting official records of the North Koreans' expression of a desire to defect to the South and fabricating documents related to their questioning by government officials.

ycm@yna.co.kr
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