First Trial Today for Families of North Korea-Shooting Civil Servant Case Against the State

Government Appoints Kang Geum-sil as Representative of Leading Law Firm

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The first trial of the information disclosure lawsuit filed by the bereaved family of Mr. Lee, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who was shot and killed by North Korean soldiers in the West Sea last September, was held on the 19th.

The Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 11 (Presiding Judge Kang Woo-chan), held the first hearing at 11 a.m. on the same day for the lawsuit filed by Mr. Lee Rae-jin, the brother of Mr. Lee, against the Director of the National Security Office, the Minister of National Defense, and the Commissioner of the Korea Coast Guard.

It is known that Mr. Lee Rae-jin appeared in court with two lawyers. In response, government agencies brought three lawyers from the law firm Won. Law Firm Won is led by lawyer Kang Geum-sil, who served as Minister of Justice during the late President Roh Moo-hyun’s administration. Eleven officials from the relevant agencies, who are likely well aware of the circumstances surrounding the death of the maritime official Mr. Lee, also attended the trial as litigation representatives. Litigation representatives refer to those delegated by agencies with the authority to conduct state lawsuits, usually administrative staff involved in the case.

The court reaffirmed the positions of both sides on the day. Mr. Lee Rae-jin’s side argued that information on whether the government fulfilled its responsibilities when it obtained intelligence related to Mr. Lee should be disclosed, while government agencies opposed, citing “state secrets” as the reason for non-disclosure.

This trial was initiated after the bereaved family of Mr. Lee, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who was reportedly shot and killed by North Korean soldiers while conducting fishery guidance activities near Soyeonpyeongdo in the West Sea in September 2019, filed an information disclosure request with related agencies to learn detailed circumstances of his death, which was rejected.

At the time the news of Mr. Lee’s death was announced, the Korea Coast Guard stated, “Mr. Lee was experiencing financial difficulties due to gambling and attempted to defect to the North as a means of escape,” according to their investigation results.

In response, the bereaved family requested the disclosure of statements from nine crew members of the Mugunghwa 10 vessel, North Korean military eavesdropping audio files, and video recordings showing the mutilation of the shot official’s body by North Korean soldiers, but these requests were denied.

The Blue House National Security Office and the Ministry of National Defense stated that information about Mr. Lee’s death “contains intelligence acquisition methods and our military’s operational details, thus classified as national defense secret information” and cannot be disclosed. They submitted a written statement containing the same content to the court one week before the trial was held.

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