Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl has been acquitted of power abuse and obstruction charges regarding allegations that he ordered surveillance of judges overseeing politically sensitive trials.

The Seoul High Court on Monday cleared the top prosecutor of the charges after reviewing documents drawn up by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office(SPO) analyzing the judges' background and past rulings.

The Justice Ministry earlier requested the SPO to investigate possible power abuse by Yoon while the documents were being drawn up in February of last year. The Seoul High Court then took over the case from the SPO.

The alleged surveillance was one of the reasons cited by former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae when she sought disciplinary action against Yoon last year.

A separate investigation into the ministry's alleged violations in its inspection of the SPO is ongoing.