'West Sea Shooting' Former Defense Minister Seo Wook and Former Coast Guard Chief Kim Hong-hee at Detention Crossroads (Comprehensive)

Former Minister of National Defense Seo Wook, who is suspected of concealing the shooting of a public official in the West Sea, is attending the warrant hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 21st. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Seo Wook, former Minister of National Defense (59), and Kim Honghee, former Commissioner of the Korea Coast Guard (54), both involved in the 'West Sea Public Official Shooting' incident, appeared at the Seoul Central District Court on the 21st for a pre-trial detention hearing (warrant review).

Kim Sangwoo, the warrant judge at the Seoul Central District Court, conducted Seo's pre-trial detention hearing from 10 a.m. that day.

Arriving at the court at 9:40 a.m. wearing a navy suit and a sky-blue shirt, Seo did not respond to reporters' questions such as "Do you admit the charges?" or "How will you explain yourself?" and entered the courtroom silently.

After about four hours of questioning, Seo left the court without any comment. During this time, Lee Raejin, the elder brother of the late Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official Lee Daejun, who was killed, rushed forward causing a disturbance but was restrained by security personnel.

Lee Rae-jin (right), the older brother of the 'West Sea shooting civil servant,' approaches former Minister of National Defense Seo Wook as he leaves the warrant hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong on the 21st regarding concealment allegations. Lee suddenly rushed toward former Minister Seo but was restrained by security personnel. [Photo by Yonhap News]

Earlier, the Public Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Heedong), which is investigating the case, filed a detention warrant for Seo and others on the 18th. This was the first strong measure taken to secure the custody of key suspects since the investigation began following a complaint by the bereaved family in June.

Seo is accused of ordering the deletion of military secrets from the Military Integrated Information Management System (MIMS) that contradicted the government's assessment that official Lee had voluntarily defected to North Korea in September 2020.

According to the Board of Audit and Inspection's report released on the 13th, after a meeting of related ministers on the morning of September 23, 2020, 60 military intelligence-related reports uploaded to MIMS were deleted under Seo's orders. The Board judged that the Moon Jae-in administration baselessly concluded Lee's voluntary defection, citing charges of dereliction of duty, abuse of authority, and falsification of official documents.

Kim Honghee, former Commissioner of the Korea Coast Guard and the chief responsible for investigating Lee's case, also appeared at the warrant hearing held by Judge Kim at 1:34 p.m. and attended the pre-trial detention hearing starting at 2 p.m.

Kim is accused of announcing investigation results that concluded voluntary defection by using unverified evidence in line with the Blue House National Security Office's policy. The decision on whether Seo and Kim will be detained is expected to be made later that afternoon or early on the 22nd.

The 'West Sea Public Official Shooting Incident' refers to the killing of Lee by North Korean soldiers in the West Sea in 2020. At that time, the Moon Jae-in administration concluded that Lee had voluntarily defected, but under the current administration, the possibility that Lee did not defect has been raised. Consequently, the Board of Audit and Inspection launched an audit in June.

Former Korea Coast Guard Commissioner Kim Hong-hee, who is suspected of concealing the 'West Sea government official shooting' incident, is heading to the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 21st to attend the warrant hearing. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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