Presidential office slams 2019 repatriation of North Korean fisherman

Jul 14, 2022, 08:02 am

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The Unification Ministry released photographs Tuesday showing two North Korean fisherman being forcibly dragged across the border at the truce village of Panmunjom in November 2019./ Source: The Ministry of Unification

AsiaToday reporter Kim Na-ri

The Unification Ministry released photos Tuesday showing two North Korean fishermen refusing to cross the Military Demarcation Line at the truce village of Panmunjom in 2019, causing controversy. The presidential office slammed the previous Moon Jae-in government for its repatriation decision as the prosecutors have re-opened an investigation into the case and carried out the search and seizure of the National Intelligence Service on Wednesday.

In a briefing, presidential spokesperson Kang In-sun said the event depicted in the photos, which show the fishermen struggling against South Korean officials attempting to send them across the border, stands in contrast to the Moon Jae-in administration’s claim that the men had no intention of defecting. “If they were forcibly repatriated to the North even when they expressed their will to defect, it is a crime against humanity that violated both international law and the constitution,” Kang said. “The Yoon Suk-yeol government will investigate the truth behind the case in detail in order to restore the universal values of freedom and human rights.”

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se told reporters that the Moon administration should have handled the case in a procedurally and orderly manner. “It is clearly wrong to repatriate them to expel them to the North after a short administrative investigation concluding that they were guilty of murder,” Kwon said.

The issue has spread to the political arena. “The forced repatriation of the fishermen to the North is annihilation of human rights, an universal value for mankind,” the ruling People Power Party (PPP) said. On the other hand, the main opposition Democratic Party said, “We cannot accept heinous criminals as our people.”

PPP floor leader and acting chief Kweon Seong-dong told reporters that he was shocked by the photos, saying, “No power has the authority to force defectors back to the North. A thorough investigation by the relevant authorities is necessary.”

The DP reacted against the claim. “In August 2019, three crew members on a North Korean fishing boat were dissatisfied with the harsh behavior of their captain, and killed 16 fellow crew members on board,” DP Rep. Kim Byung-joo, who leads the DP’s taskforce on the fisheries official’s case, said at a press conference at the National Assembly. “The South Korean government recognized that North Korean criminals were escaping from the East Sea, through various intelligence sources. The fishing boat crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) on October 31, and South Korean special agents from the Navy successfully captured them on November 2,” Kim said. “There is a misunderstanding that these people defected to South Korea, but this is not true. The South Korean military captured them.”

“It was made for extradition purposes. Defining it as a crime against humanity is excessive,” said Woo Sang-ho, interim chief of the DP.

In response, PP spokesperson Yang Geum-hee said, “Even if they committed a crime in North Korea, the North Korean defectors have the right to a trial in South Korea according to the law. The Moon Jae-in government deceived the whole nation with a false statement that they wanted to be repatriated to the North.”

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