Shin Dong-geun "Why Protect Defectors Violating the National Security Law?" VS Jin Joong-kwon "A Terrifying Person"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Shin Dong-geun, Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea, engaged in a verbal dispute with former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon on the 30th regarding the Yeonpyeong Island missing public official shooting incident, following his remark that "defection to the North is a serious anti-state crime, and if carried out, shooting is also possible."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the previous day, Supreme Council Member Shin stated on his Facebook, "Considering various information, it is judged that the missing person voluntarily defected to the North, so the controversy should be put to an end," and urged the opposition party to stop their offensive by saying, "Defection to the North is a serious anti-state crime, so it is actively prevented until crossing the border, and if it continues to be carried out, shooting is also possible."

Former professor Jin shared an article about Supreme Council Member Shin's remarks on Facebook that day and criticized him by saying, "Is this saying that there is no problem because North Korea shot him instead?" and called Shin "a scary person."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In response, Supreme Council Member Shin rebutted, "Even though it is known that this is a question about the essence of the matter, not the legitimacy of the shooting, the People Power Party and former professor Jin deliberately ignore it and make irrelevant nitpicking."

He emphasized, "The nature of the case is fundamentally different between shooting a civilian who drifted into the North due to a slip or accident or abducting a civilian to the North and shooting them, and a voluntary defector who crossed to the North secretly and was shot. It means that shooting is possible if defection continues despite prevention. I am not trying to say that it is justified because the North shot the defector instead."

He added, "In fact, during the Park Geun-hye administration, there was a case where a civilian in his 40s was shot by our military while trying to defect to the North. At that time, military officials judged it as an 'appropriate measure.' Neither the opposition Democratic Party nor the ruling Saenuri Party and conservative media at the time raised issues about it."

Supreme Council Member Shin said, "I do not understand why the conservative opposition party, which usually cherishes the National Security Act so much, is inflating suspicions about this matter while defending defectors who violated the Act," and added, "I hope they will join in raising a unified voice for joint investigation and prevention of recurrence and efforts to peacefully manage inter-Korean relations. That is the first step to becoming a ruling party beyond just being asphalt patchers."

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