Former defense minister Suh Wook and former National Intelligence Service(NIS) chief Park Jie-won have been indicted on charges related to the handling of the death of a fisheries official by North Korean soldiers in 2020.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Thursday charged Suh with abuse of authority for his role in the alleged cover-up of the death of the official, Lee Dae-jun, while serving in the Moon Jae-in administration.

Park and former NIS chief secretary Noh Eun-chae face charges that include abuse of power and deletion of intelligence reports the day after Lee's death.

According to audit results, dozens of intelligence reports were found deleted at both the NIS and the defense ministry after a ministerial meeting was held about Lee’s death on September 23, the day after he was killed.

Meanwhile, the prosecution plans to continue investigating former National Security Advisor Suh Hoon on similar charges of destroying intelligence documents in an attempt to corroborate the former administration's conclusion that the fisheries official was shot while attempting to defect to the North.