South Korea's top court ordered a retrial of a power abuse charge against a former state spy chief after he was acquitted by a lower court.

The Supreme Court said on Thursday that it partially overturned an appellate court's ruling on former National Intelligence Service(NIS) chief Won Sei-hoon, citing an insufficient review, and remanded the case for further inspection.

In August 2020, the Seoul High Court upheld a seven-year prison sentence for Won, who was indicted for spending taxpayer money to interfere in domestic politics in favor of previous conservative governments.

Won was acquitted of charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights in connection to alleged surveillance of liberal figures, including the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon.