Family of North Korea-shot official returns letter from Moon, chooses Yoon Seok-yeol... "Only betrayal and pain"

"Request to Uncover the Truth and Restore Honor Regarding Father's Death"

A letter sent on the morning of the 27th by the son of the public official killed in the West Sea to Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party. / Photo by the legal representative of the bereaved family, Yonhap News

A letter sent on the morning of the 27th by the son of the public official killed in the West Sea to Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate. / Photo by the family's legal representative, Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Lee, the son of a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who was killed by North Korean soldiers in the West Sea in 2020, sent a letter to Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party.

Kim Ki-yoon, the legal representative of the bereaved family of the slain official, announced on the 27th at 11 a.m. that Lee’s letter was sent to the People Power Party headquarters in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.

In the letter, Lee said, "It has been one year and four months since I heard through the media that my father died by a North Korean soldier’s shooting," adding, "Without even being able to confirm if the person who died so tragically was really my father, my younger sibling and I have endured hellish times being labeled as children of defectors, and my mother as the wife of a defector."

He continued, "I was eighteen that year and have now become a twenty-year-old young man, and my younger sibling, who was eight, is now ten, but the president’s promises have not been kept," emphasizing, "To uncover the truth, I have done everything possible?from writing letters to the president, filing information disclosure requests against the Blue House, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Coast Guard, to one-person protests in front of the Blue House?but all that remains is a sense of betrayal and wounds toward the president."

He lamented, "The letter from the president, who said he would personally take care of us and always be with us, has returned as an appeal against the court ruling we won, which was the hope of a high school student," and said, "How can the state say that my father defected alone, abandoning me, my sibling, and my mother to survive, without providing clear and convincing evidence?"

Lee added, "What I want to know is the truth of that day, and what I wish for is to restore my father’s honor and now return to normal life, embracing my sibling who lost our father and living an ordinary life with my mother," and said, "I know you are very busy, but I want to visit Seoul in person to ask for the truth about my father’s death and for the restoration of his honor."

Earlier, in December last year, candidate Yoon mentioned the death of the slain official on his Facebook. He said, "In the first trial, a ruling was made to disclose some information excluding military secrets, but the Blue House and the National Security Office appealed. What exactly does the Moon Jae-in government want to hide? Is it the government’s incompetence or North Korea’s cruelty? If I come to power, I will disclose the related materials regarding the West Sea official’s killing incident," he emphasized.

Letter sent by President Moon Jae-in on October 8, 2020, to the son of the murdered public official. / Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, the bereaved family held a press conference in front of the Blue House on the 18th, stating, "We received a letter from President Moon Jae-in in September 2020 promising to personally handle and reveal the truth about the killing incident, but it was nothing more than a lie to a high school student who lost his father," and returned the president’s letter to the Blue House.

In a letter explaining the reason for the return, Lee criticized, "The president’s promise to personally take care and always be with us was our only hope. But the letter was merely a face-saving measure to quell critical public opinion."

He added, "My suspicion about why my father’s death is being concealed can only grow stronger."

On November 12 last year, the Administrative 11th Division of the Seoul Administrative Court ruled partially in favor of Lee in an information disclosure lawsuit he filed against the National Security Office, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Coast Guard, ordering the National Security Office and the Coast Guard to disclose all information except for some materials. In particular, on September 22 last year, the court ordered the Blue House to disclose three documents related to reports and instructions exchanged with the Ministry of National Defense, the Coast Guard, and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries at the time of the incident for viewing.

However, the Blue House appealed on December 30 last year. Although presidential records are generally subject to disclosure by law, information related to national security, the national economy, and political appointments can be designated as presidential records with separate non-disclosure periods. General designated records are not allowed to be viewed or copied for 15 years, and records related to personal privacy for 30 years.

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