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| ▲ Former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon appears for a court hearing at the Seoul Central District Court on Dec. 2, 2022. (Yonhap) |
ex-security adviser-bail
Ex-national security adviser appeals for bail
SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- Former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon asked for bail Wednesday, citing his advanced age and health problems, after he was arrested on charges of attempting to cover up the 2020 death of a fisheries official at the hands of North Korea.
Suh filed for bail last month after being arrested earlier that month on charges of involvement in the previous Moon Jae-in government's conclusion without sufficient evidence that the official was killed while attempting to defect to the North.
He also allegedly ordered the deletion of intelligence reports running counter to the conclusion.
In a hearing on his bail request, his lawyer pleaded with the court to grant the request in consideration of Suh's advanced age of 69 and cardiovascular diseases he is suffering.
The lawyer also refuted charges against Suh, saying it is hard to believe he ordered concealment when hundreds of working-level officials at the defense and intelligence agencies as well as the presidential office were well aware of the situation.
The court closed the hearing without fixing the date for its decision.
The 47-year-old fisheries official was fatally shot by the North's coast guard near the Yellow Sea border between the two Koreas, a day after going missing while on duty on board a fishery inspection vessel.
Critics have suspected the former Moon government reached the conclusion that the slain official was fleeing to North Korea so as to curry favor with Pyongyang.
Prosecutors in charge of the case have concluded the official appears to have fallen into the sea by accident and drifted to the North Korean side.
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