President Lee Orders Investigation of 'Coast Guard Line-of-Duty Death' by Independent External Agency, Not Coast Guard

On September 15, President Lee Jaemyung ordered that the circumstances surrounding the accident involving the late Coast Guard Sergeant Lee Jaeseok, who died in the line of duty while rescuing an elderly man stranded in a mudflat, be thoroughly investigated by an independent external agency rather than the Coast Guard itself.

Yonhap News Agency

On this day, Kang Yujeong, spokesperson for the presidential office, stated during a briefing at the Yongsan presidential office, "President Lee pointed out that testimonies have emerged from the late officer's colleagues claiming that higher-ups are concealing the truth. He issued these instructions to ensure that neither the bereaved family nor the colleagues are left with any sense of injustice."

Spokesperson Kang further explained, "President Lee also repeatedly checked whether there were any shortcomings or delays in the initial response after receiving a report that, although the principle is to conduct search and rescue operations in teams of two, the late officer carried out the rescue alone."

Sergeant Lee went missing at around 3:30 a.m. on September 11 while rescuing a Chinese national man in his 70s who became stranded by the rising tide while collecting shellfish in the Kkotseom mudflat in Yeongheung-myeon. He was found in cardiac arrest at 9:41 a.m. and transported to the hospital, but ultimately passed away.

On the day of the incident, four fellow Coast Guard officers who were on duty with the late officer held a press conference at the funeral home, revealing, "We were instructed to remain silent about the incident because they wanted to portray Sergeant Lee as a hero." They claimed that the two-person team deployment principle was not followed, the team leader did not respond appropriately, and that they were pressured by superiors not to speak to the media about these issues.