Prosecutors have sought an arrest warrant for former National Intelligence Service(NIS) Director Suh Hoon in their probe into the former Moon Jae-in government's handling of the 2020 shooting death of a fisheries official by North Korean soldiers.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Tuesday filed for the warrant against Suh, who was in charge of the Moon administration's North Korea and security policies at the time.

The ex-spy chief faces accusations that in a ministerial meeting held the day after Lee Dae-jun's death near the western maritime border, he hastily concluded that Lee was attempting to defect when he was shot.

At a press conference last month, Suh denied the allegation as well as the claim that he ordered the deletion of intelligence files that contradicted his conclusion. Instead, he asserted that the prosecution under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration was engaging in political retaliation.