Court sentences 3 ex-officials to suspended prison terms over 2019 deportation of N. Koreans
From left, former national security adviser Chung Eui-yong, former National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon, former Chief of Staff to the President Noh Young-min and former Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul / Yonhap
An appellate court on Wednesday handed down suspended prison terms for three former officials for forcibly repatriating two North Korean fishermen in 2019 despite their intention to defect to South Korea.
The Seoul High Court upheld a lower court's guilty verdicts for Chung Eui-yong, former national security adviser; former National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon; and former Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul.
It, however, acquitted former Presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min, who had earlier been convicted over his involvement in the case.
All four served in former President Moon Jae-in's administration in November 2019, when Seoul deported two North Korean fishermen back to North Korea after they were captured near the eastern maritime border. The fishermen had been accused of killing 16 crew members.
The move sparked outcry from critics as the fishermen had expressed their intent to defect to South Korea, which maintains a policy of accepting North Korean defectors.
A lower court found all four former officials guilty but deferred their sentencing.
The appellate court sentenced Chung and Suh to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, and Kim to a one-year prison term suspended for two years, ruling they violated the basic rights of the fishermen by repatriating them back to their communist homeland. Those who attempt to defect from North Korea are often said to face severe punishment, ranging from torture to death, when they are caught or sent back to the North.
The court acquitted Noh, ruling that it was difficult to determine his involvement in the decision on the forced repatriation.
The court noted the decision to forcibly repatriate the fishermen was made just two days after their capture, while the deportation took place just days later despite a government official voicing the need for careful consideration.
"It even left North Korean defectors who had settled in the Republic of Korea trembling with fear of forced repatriation," the court added, using South Korea's official name.