Ministry of National Defense: "No Evidence to Reverse the Presumption of Defection to North Korea"

On the 7th, when the Ministry of National Defense officially began preparations for the move, the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul were seen. Following the approval of the supplementary budget expenditure plan for relocating the presidential office at the provisional Cabinet meeting held the previous day, the Ministry of National Defense plans to sign a formal contract with a professional moving company as early as today and start relocating offices currently housed in the main building of the headquarters to nearby buildings, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff building, by department and division./Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The Ministry of National Defense stated that there is no additional evidence to overturn the judgment that the civil servant killed in the West Sea was "presumed to have defected to the North." This means that they did not change their position based on new information but rather reinterpreted the existing information.

On the 21st, Moon Hong-sik, Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense, responded to a question at a regular briefing about whether there was any new basis for the recent change in judgment by saying, "I don't think we have made any separate statements."

Regarding whether there were any instructions or policies from the Presidential Office during the Ministry of National Defense's announcement of the changed position to the media on the 16th, he said, "I am not aware of the exact details."

He added, "The Ministry of National Defense's position announced on the 16th of this month basically expressed the final investigative results of the Coast Guard," and "Because the Ministry's initial announcement of the circumstances caused confusion and misunderstanding among the public, the Ministry organized that part and explained its position to the media and the public."

Earlier, the Ministry of National Defense apologized, saying, "We caused confusion among the public by announcing that the killed civil servant was presumed to have attempted to defect to the North at the same time as the Coast Guard's investigation results were released, and we regret not being able to disclose more facts due to security reasons."

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