'Arrest Warrant Issued for Defector Suspected of Defection to North Korea on Sexual Assault Charges (Comprehensive)'

Suspect Booked After Last Month's Interrogation
Denies Charges in Police Investigation
Acquaintance YouTuber "Reported Defection to Police but Was Ignored"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] It has been confirmed that a man in his 20s, a North Korean defector who is presumed to have recently defected to North Korea, was investigated by the police last month on charges of sexually assaulting a female acquaintance at his home, and an arrest warrant had also been issued.

According to the Gimpo Police Station in Gyeonggi Province on the 26th, Kim (24), a defector, was booked by the police after being questioned once as a suspect on charges of rape last month. Kim is accused of sexually assaulting a woman, A, whom he had known for some time, at his home in Gimpo City in mid-last month. It was investigated that after A had a quarrel with her boyfriend and was complaining over the phone, Kim called her to his house, and after drinking together, committed the crime. Kim, who defected in 2017, attended school in North Korea and is reported to have worked after settling in South Korea.

Kim is known to have completely denied the sexual assault charges during the police investigation. A police official said, "Since a 112 emergency call was not immediately made at the crime scene at the time, no forced investigation such as arrest was conducted," and added, "The victim reported the incident a few hours after it occurred, and the suspect was investigated without detention."

Defector YouTuber: "I reported the defection to North Korea to the police, but they ignored it"

A defector YouTuber who is an acquaintance of Kim said during a live broadcast on YouTube that "At 2 a.m. on July 18, while working part-time at a convenience store, I received a text from Kim," and added, "It said, 'I didn’t want to lose someone like a sister, but I’m sorry. Wherever I am alive, I will definitely repay you.'"

Kim often borrowed and used this defector YouTuber’s car, and it is reported that the vehicle passed through the Ilsan Bridge tollgate via Hi-Pass at around 4:55 p.m. on the 17th of this month. He recently withdrew the deposit from his apartment in Gimpo and sold the YouTuber’s car, gathering about 30 million won, which he exchanged into dollars.

The YouTuber also claimed that after hearing from an acquaintance of Kim that he had said he intended to defect to North Korea, they went to the police station on the afternoon of the 18th to report this, but the police officer ignored it.

In response, the police explained that in mid-this month, after receiving intelligence that Kim had threatened the victim and intended to defect to North Korea, they applied for an arrest warrant, which was issued by the court.

Military Authorities Virtually Confirm Occurrence of Defection to North Korea

On the morning of the same day, North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency revealed that an emergency expanded meeting of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee was held under the chairmanship of Kim Jong-un, the Workers' Party Chairman, and reported, "An emergency incident occurred on July 19, where a defector suspected of being infected with a malignant virus (COVID-19) illegally crossed the Military Demarcation Line after three years and returned to Kaesong City."

About eight hours after the North Korean report, the military authorities virtually confirmed the occurrence of the defection to North Korea and announced that an investigation is underway. Related authorities have narrowed down the defection period to 2017 and are investigating Kim, who has been unreachable among defectors from that period, as the likely defector to North Korea.

The area around Ganghwa Gyodongdo Island and the Han River estuary, presumed to be the route Kim used to defect to North Korea, is only 1.3 to 2.5 km from North Korea, making it a frequent place where defectors swim across the border according to the tide.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.