An appellate court on Wednesday handed down suspended prison terms for three former officials for forcibly repatriating two North Korean fishermen in 2019 despite their intention to defect to South Korea. The Seoul High Court upheld a lower court's guilty verdicts for Chung Eui-yong, former national security adviser; former National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon; and former Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul. It, however, acquitted former Presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min, who had earlier been convicted over his involvement in the case. All four served in former President Moon Jae-in's administration in November 2019, when Seoul deported two North Korean fishermen back to North Korea after they were captured near the eastern maritime border. The fishermen had been accused of killing 16 crew members. The move sparked outcry from critics as the fishermen had expressed their intent to defect to South Korea, which maintains a policy of accepting North Korean defectors. A lower court found all four former officials guilty but deferred their sentencing. The appellate court sente