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| Lee Rae-jin, right, the elder brother of the South Korean fisheries official shot dead by North Korea armed forces two years ago, speaks during a press conference with ruling People Power Party leaders at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. Newsis |
Family of official shot dead by North Korea to meet UN rights expert
By Jung Min-ho
The National Security Council (NSC) under the previous government is accused of having told the Ministry of National Defense to change its official position on the death of a South Korean official two years ago so as to obfuscate the facts behind the incident with North Korea.
The ministry's documents, which were obtained by Rep. Ha Tae-keung, head of the ruling People Power Party's special committee on the issue, show that it shifted its position from "(North Korea's) brutality of burning the body confirmed" to "a joint probe needed for what is speculated as the burning of the body" after the presidential advisory body's request to review it on Sept. 27, 2020.
Only three days ago, the ministry said it confirmed ― via military surveillance equipment ― that North Korean soldiers wearing protective clothing burned the official's body; it also noted that the soldiers appeared to have shot him dead after receiving orders.
The documents show that the NSC issued the instruction two days after North Korea's letter that did not corroborate the South Korean military's findings.
The accusations may prompt the family of the deceased official to file a complaint with the prosecution against former President Moon Jae-in, then chairman of the NSC. The family said last week that they would do so if Moon's involvement in the decision-making becomes clear, after filing a complaint against Moon's former aides ― Kim Jong-ho and Lee Kwang-cheol ― and former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon.
"It was a day of infamy, the day that the public lost trust in the defense ministry … Cheong Wa Dae agreed to release the ministry's announcement initially; but after the North's letter followed by the NSC's instruction, the ministry changed its position," Ha said in a statement.
Former NSC Deputy Director Suh Choo-suk, who is accused of being directly involved in the move, has denied the allegations, saying there was no "instruction" and a joint investigation was needed given the different findings between the South and the North.
Ha said it was wrong for Suh to accept North Korea's unilateral claims without any evidence. The lawmaker vowed to collect more evidence in regards to the Moon administration's ploy to cover up the truth and frame the incident as the official's attempt to defect to the North.
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| In this April 26 file photo, North Korean military guard posts, background, and South Korean guard posts, foreground, are seen in Paju near the border with North Korea, South Korea. AP-Yonhap |
The previous administration put most of the documents related to the official's death in the Presidential Archives to keep them sealed for up to 30 years. But the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said Sunday that the official documents issued by the presidential office to the government ministries and agencies cannot be kept there. The archives agency previously rejected the family's request to disclose documents about the death. The ruling party is determined and confident that they will eventually obtain access to them after the ministry's statement, but opposition lawmakers may bring the case to court.
Rep. Woo Sang-ho, interim leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the ruling party for "politicizing" the tragedy, saying it will launch a team soon to more effectually respond to the issue.
Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of the victim, said the family will meet Tomas Ojea Quintana, the United Nations' special rapporteur on North Korea's human rights situation, during his official visit (June 27-29) to Seoul on Tuesday.
Speaking to The Korea Times recently, Lee said he asked Quintana and other experts on human rights to help uncover the truth.
The 47-year-old unarmed official was killed in September 2020 by the North Korean military while adrift in North Korean territorial waters, and his body was set on fire afterward. It was initially concluded that he was killed during his attempt to defect to the North. But the story took a drastic turn as the military and police under the current government said there was no sufficient evidence that he was intentionally trying to cross the border.
As a result, nine top Coast Guard officials, including Commissioner General Jeong Bong-hun, offered to resign en masse on June 24. But the presidential office said it will not accept the resignations until the investigation is finished.
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