▲ In this file photo, National Security Adviser Suh Hoon (C) arrives at the Seoul Central District Court on Dec. 2, 2022, to attend a review on his arrest warrant over allegations involving the death of a South Korean fisheries official who was shot to death by North Korean soldiers while drifting in the North's territorial waters in the West Sea in September 2020. Suh was accused of involvement in the then Moon Jae-in government's conclusion without sufficient evidence that the fisheries official was killed while attempting to defect to the North. He was also suspected of ordering key security officials to delete internal intelligence reports running counter to the conclusion. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

ex-security adviser-indictment

Ex-national security adviser indicted over slain official case

SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Yonhap) -- Former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon was indicted Friday on charges of irregularities surrounding the 2020 death of a South Korean government official at the hands of North Korea.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office has been investigating the death of the fisheries official, who was fatally shot by North Korean coast guard members near the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea, a day after going missing while on duty on board a fishery inspection vessel.

The former Moon Jae-in government had concluded the official was attempting to defect to the North. But the Coast Guard and the military reversed that conclusion in June after President Yoon Suk-yeol took office, saying there was no evidence to suggest an attempted defection took place.

Suh is accused of being involved in the previous Moon government's conclusion without sufficient evidence that the official was killed while attempting to defect to the North.

Suh is also suspected of having ordered key security officials to delete internal intelligence reports that contradicted the conclusion that the South Korean official was planning to defect.

He is the first ranking official of the former administration who has been indicted by the prosecution.

The former national security adviser has been under arrest since Saturday, when a Seoul court issued an arrest warrant for him, citing the seriousness of the case and the possibility of Suh trying to destroy evidence.

The prosecution also indicted former Coast Guard Commissioner General Kim Hong-hee, who was accused of manipulating evidence to reach the conclusion that the fisheries official voluntarily attempted to defect to the North.

Moon has voiced deep concerns over the investigation, saying a "matter of national security" should not be a "subject of political strife."

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