It is known that former National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon recently returned to Korea, who was accused of 'forcible repatriation of North Korean defectors' by the Moon Jae-in government.



According to the legal community today (1st), former Director Seo, who stayed in the country at the invitation of an American think tank, returned to Korea at the end of last month.



Prosecutors have taken measures so that when Seo enters the country, the fact can be automatically notified.



Former Director Suh was accused of prematurely ending the joint investigation of two North Korean defectors who crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in November 2019 (abuse of authority under the National Intelligence Service Act).



He is accused of instructing the revision of the report in the process of delivering the report containing the situation of the joint investigation by the National Intelligence Service to the Ministry of Unification, excluding expressions such as 'forced investigation' and 'defeat' and adding 'there are no charges against anti-aircraft forces' ( False official documents) are also accepted.



Prosecutors seized and searched the National Intelligence Service on the 13th of last month to secure related data, and since then, they are investigating North Korea by calling related persons such as wiretapping units, the navy, and employees of the National Intelligence Service as witnesses.



Through this basic investigation, the prosecution believes that the Moon Jae-in administration at the time forcibly sent the defectors back to North Korea without legal basis despite their intention to defect.



In the process, we are checking to see if high-ranking government officials at the time, including Director Seo, had committed illegal acts, such as making their subordinates do meaningless work or tampering with public documents.



Prosecutors plan to summon those in charge, including former Director Seo, as soon as the working-level promotion investigation is completed.



Former Minister of Unification Kim Yeon-cheol, who was the head of the Ministry of Unification at the time of the North Korean defector repatriation incident, also returned to Korea on the 26th of last month after completing a visit to the US for a family reunion.



An official from the prosecution said, "We plan to conduct necessary investigations when necessary according to the investigation schedule."



(Photo = provided by Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)