Prosecutors Summon Former Coast Guard Chief Kim Hong-hee... Ongoing Investigation into Higher-Ups in 'West Sea Shooting' Case

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution investigating the 'West Sea Public Official Shooting Incident' has summoned former Commissioner of the Korea Coast Guard Kim Hong-hee as a suspect for questioning.

According to the prosecution on the 14th, the Public Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Hee-dong) summoned former Commissioner Kim on the same day.

Former Commissioner Kim was the overall person in charge of the Coast Guard investigation when the maritime investigation officer, the late Lee Dae-jun, was shot in North Korean waters on September 22, 2020. The prosecution is reportedly verifying with former Commissioner Kim the circumstances under which the investigation results concluding Lee’s voluntary defection to North Korea were announced, as well as the contents of the response guidelines received from the Blue House National Security Office.

Following the summons of former Minister of National Defense Seo Wook the previous day, the prosecution is accelerating the investigation into the 'higher-ups' by questioning former Commissioner Kim on this day. It is also anticipated that summonses for former National Security Office Director Seo Hoon and former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won are imminent.

According to the audit results released by the Board of Audit and Inspection the previous day, the Coast Guard at the time issued three investigation results stating Lee voluntarily defected to North Korea by using unverified evidence in line with the National Security Office’s policy, concealing existing evidence, distorting experimental results, and disclosing private information unrelated to the incident.

The Board of Audit and Inspection also secured statements from Coast Guard officials that former Commissioner Kim said, "I will pretend I didn’t see it," during the reporting process of materials from the Ministry of National Defense and others indicating that Lee was wearing a life jacket inscribed with Chinese characters when he was found. Additionally, statements from Coast Guard officials revealed that during the drafting of the second announcement, they heard from former Commissioner Kim remarks to the effect of, "Other possibilities don’t make sense. It is definitely defection."

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