Prohibition on Designating Presidential Records for the North Korean-Killed Official Case Denied Again in Second Trial

Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of the fisheries official killed by North Korean soldiers, and Kim Ki-yoon, the legal representative of the bereaved family, are moving on the 28th to meet Thomas Ohea Quintana, the UN Special Rapporteur on North Korean Human Rights, at the Seoul Global Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The family of Lee Dae-jun, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who was killed by North Korean soldiers in the West Sea, had their injunction request to prevent the related records from being designated as presidential records rejected again in the second trial.

According to the legal community on the 12th, the Seoul High Court Administrative Division 6-3 (Presiding Judges Hong Seong-wook, Choi Bong-hee, Wi Gwang-ha) dismissed all applications in the appeal trial of the injunction lawsuit filed by Lee Rae-jin (57), Lee’s older brother, against the President and the Director of the National Security Office. Lee had applied for the injunction last December, requesting that the related records not be designated as presidential records until the ruling on the information disclosure request case against the National Security Office was issued.

The first trial court ruled, "This is not a form of application permitted under the Administrative Litigation Act, so it is inappropriate," and decided to dismiss all applications without a hearing. The second trial court upheld the dismissal decision for the same reasons as the first trial. It also considered that the National Security Office withdrew its appeal in the information disclosure lawsuit after the first trial, making the ruling final.

Lee Dae-jun was a fisheries guidance officer belonging to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries West Sea Fisheries Guidance Management Unit. In September 2020, while drifting in the West Sea, he was shot and killed by North Korean soldiers. His body was later burned. The Coast Guard initially announced that Lee was presumed to have defected to North Korea voluntarily, but recently reversed the previous interim investigation results, stating that no intention of defection was found. The materials held by the Blue House and the Ministry of National Defense at the time were transferred as presidential designated records.

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