A Korean woman charged with murder in Honduras has been acquitted and could go free later this year.

The Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry in Seoul said Sunday that a regional court in the Honduran city of Roatan found Han Ji-soo, a 27-year-old diving instructor, not guilty in her first main trial hearing Saturday.

A ministry official says Honduran prosecutors can appeal the verdict within 20 days but the first ruling is unlikely to be overturned.

Last week before the trial, the ministry dispatched a diplomat for consular affairs and an official at the Korean Embassy in Honduras. Seoul also sent a forensic expert from the state-run National Institute for Scientific Investigation to help Han prepare for the hearing.

In addition, the Korean government repeatedly requested Honduras to ensure a fair trial for Han, saying the two nations held a summit in June.

The trial took place just about a month after the case was referred to the court.

Han was arrested in Egypt in August last year on suspicion of implication in the 2008 death of a Dutch backpacker in Honduras. Han was freed on bail in December last year and has since been under house arrest at a Korean church in Honduras.