Prosecutors Decline to Prosecute Park Ji-won and Seo Hoon for 'Failing to Appear for Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) Questioning over West Sea Civil Servant Shooting'... 'Insufficient Evidence'
- Input
- 2026-09-28 16:40:03
- Updated
- 2026-09-28 16:40:03
[Financial News] Prosecutors have decided not to prosecute Park Ji-won, former director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), and Seo Hoon, former head of the Office of National Security (ONS), who were accused of refusing to comply with the Board of Audit and Inspection's demand to appear for questioning in connection with the West Sea civil servant shooting incident.
According to legal circles on the 28th, Public Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, headed by Chief Prosecutor Yoon Su-jeong, recently decided not to prosecute former NIS Director Park and former ONS head Seo, who had been accused of violating the Board of Audit and Inspection Act, citing insufficient evidence.
Lee Rae-jin, the brother of the late Daejun Lee, a civil servant killed by North Korean troops in waters off the West Sea in 2020, filed a complaint against former NIS Director Park and former ONS head Seo in October 2022, alleging that they had refused to comply with the BAI's demand for an investigation.
Around September of the same year, former NIS Director Park and former ONS head Seo refused to appear for the BAI's questioning regarding the West Sea civil servant shooting incident. They reportedly declined to appear because prosecutors were investigating the related case, among other reasons.
After receiving the complaint, prosecutors determined that the alleged violation of the Board of Audit and Inspection Act did not fall under matters subject to direct investigation by prosecutors and referred the case to the police.
The police later forwarded the two men to prosecutors after completing their investigation. After reviewing the case, prosecutors concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prove the allegations and made a final decision not to prosecute them.
[email protected] Choi Eun-sol Reporter