Coast Guard: "No Evidence Found of Defector Status for Official Killed by North Korea 2 Years Ago"

Incheon Coast Guard Chief Park Sang-chun is giving the final investigation briefing on the "North Korean Shooting of Public Official Incident" on the 16th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The Coast Guard has stated that there is no evidence to acknowledge the intention of defection to North Korea regarding the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who went missing two years ago in the northern West Sea near Soyeonpyeongdo and was killed by North Korean soldiers.

This reverses the previous investigation results, which had given weight to the defection theory based on military intelligence and the official's gambling debts.

On the 16th, the Incheon Coast Guard held a press briefing and announced that they could not find the circumstances of how Mr. A, a fisheries guidance officer belonging to the West Sea Fisheries Guidance Unit of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, who went missing in September 2020 near Soyeonpyeongdo, Ongjin-gun, Incheon, and was shot dead in North Korean waters, moved to North Korean waters or had the intention to defect.

Park Sangchun, Chief of the Incheon Coast Guard, explained, "Based on the Ministry of National Defense's announcement and other information, we kept open various possibilities including defection and conducted on-site investigations, but we did not find any evidence to acknowledge the intention of defection."

Yoon Hyungjin, Director of Policy Planning at the Ministry of National Defense, also appeared at the briefing and said, "We could not prove the missing official's voluntary defection," adding, "It is clear that North Korean soldiers shot and killed our citizen and burned the body."

He added, "We regret causing confusion among the public by previously announcing that the killed official was presumed to have attempted defection," and "Due to security reasons, we cannot disclose everything."

Earlier, the Coast Guard announced interim investigation results eight days after Mr. A went missing in September 2020, judging that he had defected to North Korea. The main evidence was military and intelligence authorities' interception of North Korean communication signals and maritime drift prediction analysis results.

Subsequently, the Coast Guard revealed that "the missing person had gambled and had debts before death," disclosing details such as the gambling period, frequency, and debt amount, and announced that they judged he defected to escape reality in a state of mental panic.

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