Nine high-ranking officials from the Park Geun-hye administration, including former Chief of Staff Lee Byung-ki, were acquitted by the Supreme Court on charges of interfering with the activities of the Special Investigation Committee on the April 16 Sewol Ferry Disaster. Both the first and second trials also ruled them not guilty.
On the 26th, the Supreme Court's third division, led by Chief Justice Oh Seok-jun, upheld the lower court's ruling that acquitted former Chief of Staff Lee, former Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Hyun Gi-hwan, former Senior Secretary for Policy Coordination Hyun Jeong-taek, former Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs Ahn Jong-beom, former Senior Secretary for Personnel Jung Jin-chul, former Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Kim Young-seok, former Vice Minister Yoon Hak-bae, former Minister of Personnel Management Lee Geun-myeon, and former Vice Chairman of the Special Investigation Committee Jo Dae-hwan, who were indicted for abuse of power.
Former Chief of Staff Lee and others were indicted in May 2020 without detention on suspicion of trying to obstruct the Special Investigation Committee's investigation into the whereabouts of former President Park Geun-hye during the Sewol ferry disaster, which the committee had planned to discuss in November 2015. They are also accused of interfering with the activities of the Special Investigation Committee by stopping the appointment of the director of the Special Investigation Committee's Truth-Seeking Department and halting the dispatch of more than 10 civil servants, as well as forcibly terminating the committee's activities.
Both the first and second trials stated, "The evidence submitted by the prosecutor is insufficient to prove that the defendants conspired to execute (the obstruction of the Special Investigation Committee's activities) together," adding, "The charges of criminality were not proven beyond a reasonable doubt," and thus they were acquitted.
The Supreme Court stated, "There was no misunderstanding in the lower court's judgment regarding the establishment of the charge of abuse of power or the principles concerning joint perpetrators," and dismissed the appeal.