Kim Geun-sik: "Joint North-South Investigation is Absurd... Only a State Audit is the Answer"

"North and South Claims Completely Conflicting... Joint Investigation Impossible"

Geun-sik Kim, Chairman of the Seoul Songpa-byeong Party Committee of the People Power Party Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Joo-hee] Kim Geun-sik, the head of the People Power Party's Songpa-byeong district committee in Seoul, asserted that the investigation into the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who died from North Korean military gunfire should be a government inquiry, not a joint inter-Korean investigation.

On the 5th, Kim wrote on his Facebook, "It is absurd to investigate the atrocities committed by the North together with them," emphasizing this point.

Kim pointed out, "The North never accepted our request for a joint investigation into the 2008 death of Park Wang-ja," adding, "After Kim Jong-un's insincere 'apology' notice, the Moon Jae-in administration neglected the necessary tasks such as fact-finding, punishing those responsible, and preventing recurrence, merely repeating calls for a joint inter-Korean investigation."

He continued, "(This incident) is for the same reason that we cannot conduct a joint investigation with the North over the Cheonan sinking, and the completely conflicting claims between the two Koreas make a joint investigation impossible."

Kim stated, "The Moon Jae-in government concluded it was a voluntary defection to the North, while the North defines the official as an illegal intruder. Despite the existence of intercepted records confirming orders to shoot, the North claims the shooting was a command decision by the officer in charge," adding, "Although there is evidence that the body was burned, the North insists it was floating debris that was burned. How can a joint investigation be possible when the claims of the two Koreas about the incident's details are contradictory?"

Regarding the decisive reasons for a parliamentary government inquiry, he said, "Only through a bipartisan government inquiry can we approach the truth about the military authorities' response and irresponsibility after the official was found, the gap in time between the Blue House report and the president's briefing, the president's dereliction of duty and irresponsibility, and the president's irresponsible response after confirmation of the shooting," emphasizing, "In a situation where the military, coast guard, and Blue House are already full of excuses, only a parliamentary government inquiry is the correct answer."

He warned, "Delaying the fact-finding of this citizen-killing incident under the pretext of an impossible joint investigation is another dereliction of duty," and urged, "Do not let the people of the Republic of Korea die twice."

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