ⓒYONHAP News

Former national security adviser Suh Hoon has been detained in connection with the previous government's handling of the 2020 shooting death of a South Korean fisheries official by North Korean soldiers.

The warrant was issued Saturday ahead of the upcoming trial with the Seoul Central District Court citing the gravity of the crime and possible evidence destruction in view of the suspect's status and ties with other figures.

This marks the first arrest of a senior official of the previous Moon Jae-in administration.

The former spy chief, and national security adviser at the time of the incident, is accused of deciding to conceal the North's killing of Lee Dae-jun in 2020 and instructing government agencies to delete related intelligence during a ministers' meeting held the day after his death.  

He is also suspected of ordering the defense ministry, the intelligence agency and the Coast Guard to fabricate reports to make it seem as if Lee defected to the North.

Meanwhile on Thursday, former President Moon warned the incumbent administration not to cross the line in its investigation into the case.

Moon claims that related authorities are now overturning previous conclusions based on the same information and circumstantial evidence that had formed the basis for his own administration’s very different findings at the time.