Nine high-ranking officials in the Park Geun-hye administration were found not guilty on the second count of interfering with the Sewol Ferry Special Investigation Committee.

Nine high-ranking officials of the Park Geun-hye government who were indicted on charges of interfering with the activities of the Special Investigation Committee on the April 16 Sewol Ferry Disaster were found not guilty in the first and second trials.

On the 23rd, the 3rd Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Chief Judge Nam Ki-jeong and Yu Je-min) of the Seoul High Court acquitted nine people, including Lee Byeong-ki (76), former Chief of Staff of the Blue House, and former Senior Secretary to the President for Economic Affairs Ahn Jong-beom, who were indicted on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of the exercise of rights, as in the first trial.

Indicted along with former Chief Lee and former Chief Ahn are former Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Hyun Ki-hwan, former Senior Secretary for Policy Coordination Hyun Jeong-taek, former Senior Secretary for Personnel Jin-cheol, former Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Kim Young-seok, former Vice Minister Yoon Hak-bae, former Minister of Personnel Management Lee Geun-myeon, and former Special Steering Committee Vice Chairman Cho Dae-hwan. was acquitted

The court judged that it would be difficult to find him guilty on all counts, saying, “It is difficult to say that former Director Lee was aware of the nature of abuse of power, and it cannot be said that the fact that he colluded with other defendants has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

In addition, the court said, “Although the chairman of the special committee has the ‘right to request personnel and budget’ and the ‘right to work such as investigation of the truth about the Sewol Ferry disaster,’ these rights are abstract and are not concrete enough to enable the exercise of rights in themselves.” He explained, “It cannot be considered a subject of abuse of power.”

After the first trial acquittal, the prosecution added a preliminary indictment, saying, “Relevant public officials abused their power,” but the court judged him not guilty, saying, “It is difficult to say that it has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Nine people, including former chief Lee, were put on trial on charges of attempting to obstruct the special investigation committee’s resolution to investigate former President Park Geun-hye’s actions for seven hours on the day of the Sewol Ferry disaster in November 2015.

There are also charges of interfering with the investigation authority of the Special Investigation Committee, such as suspending the appointment process for the Special Investigation Committee’s truth-finding director and not sending more than 10 public officials who needed to be additionally dispatched. They were also charged with forcibly ending the special committee’s activities by completely stopping discussions on extending the special committee’s activity period and not executing the budget for the second half of the year.

In February last year, the first trial found former Director Lee and others not guilty.

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