Supreme Court "Rejudge 7 hours of Ferry Sewol documents confidentially"

[Anchor]
On the day of the Ferry Sewol disaster, the Supreme Court ruled to re-examine the list of documents made or reported by Cheong Wa Dae and the so-called 7-hour Ferry Sewol documents.

The Supreme Court judged that the previous high court hearing was insufficient.

Reporter Kim Joo-young reports.

[Reporter]
The most controversial part of the 2014 Ferry Sewol disaster was whether President Park Geun Hye played his part.

To confirm this, lawyer Song Ki-ho, a member of Minbyun, asked the presidential office, the security office, and the national security office to disclose a list of documents produced or received related to rescue activities on the day of the Ferry Sewol disaster.

However, the head of the Presidential Archives refused to disclose the list of so-called seven-hour documents Ferry Sewol because it was designated as a presidential record and was under protection.Attorney

Song immediately filed an administrative lawsuit, and the rulings of the first and second trials were mixed.

The first trial court ruled in favor of lawyer Song, saying there was a good reason to suspect that he did not meet the requirements for designated records, while the second trial court ruled that it was not illegal to disclose the documents.

However, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the Seoul High Court, saying the second trial was wrong.

The Supreme Court stressed that the second trial court should have heard whether the relevant information was legally designated as a presidential record and the period of protection was set.

He then pointed out that the lower court was wrong to influence the ruling by omitting the judgment on the legality of the part or not performing the necessary hearing.

Some predict that the ruling will put a brake on the practice of preventing the disclosure of presidential documents, saying they are subject to the Presidential Records Act.

I'm Kim Joo-young of YTN.