Gov’t reverses assertion on fisheries official’s killing by North Korea

Jun 17, 2022, 09:30 am

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Park Sang-chun, chief of the Incheon Coast Guard, left, and Yoon Hyeong-jin, a senior official from the South Korean Defense Ministry, take a bow after a briefing on a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korean military in 2020, at the coast guard office in Incheon on June 16, 2022./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Lee Wook-jae

The government on Thursday dropped its plan to appeal to block release of information related to a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korean military in 2020, saying it found no evidence to support the claim that the official was attempting to defect.

The previous Moon Jae-in administration had claimed that the official, surnamed Lee, was attempting to defect to the North. However, the government reversed its earlier assertion after two years under the new administration.

The Office of National Security has withdrawn its appeal to the Seoul High Court on the Seoul Administrative Court’s decision ordering the government to reveal information related to the deceased official. “We hope that our decision to withdraw the appeal will correct unfair measures of the past restricting information without properly reporting the circumstances of the death to the bereaved family even though the South Korean citizen was killed by the North Korean military, and contribute in any way to fulfilling the people’s right to know.”

As the government has withdrawn the appeal, the court’s decision to disclose some of the related information surrounding Lee’s death is expected to the finalized. However, the related documents are unlikely to be disclosed as of now as they have been archived and were made confidential under the Moon Jae-in administration. Presidential records are only available under approval of at least two-thirds of the National Assembly members or a warrant from the head of the competent high court.

“We are unaware of the list or contents since they are designated as presidential records,” an official from the presidential office said. “A litigation over access to the document is ongoing. After receiving the judgment of the judiciary, we will make additional efforts if there are things that can be made at the government level.” The official criticized the former Moon administration, saying it did not respond properly to the request of the bereaved family to find out the truth.

“Based on the announcement by the Ministry of National Defense and more, we conducted a comprehensive investigation, such as onsite investigation and international judicial assistance,” said the Korea Coast Guard (KCC), which previously determined that Lee had intentionally defected to the North. The KCC apologized, saying, “We have failed to find any evidence to believe that the official had intended to defect to the North.”

“By that time, the investigation was in the early stage, and we had to trust the documents of the national defense ministry,” said Park Sang-chun, chief of the Incheon Coast Guard. “The victim was very unlikely to lose his footing or commit suicide. The government had judged that he had defected, considering various circumstances, such as being found wearing a life jacket in North Korean waters,” Park said.

“We could not prove that the missing official had defected to the North voluntarily,” said Yoon Hyeong-jin, a senior official from the Ministry of National Defense, during a press briefing. “We are certain to say there were circumstances in which the North Korean military had shot and burned our citizen,” Yoon said. “We regret determining early on that the official had tried to defect to the North, and causing confusion to the public.”

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