'West Sea Shooting' Former Defense Minister and Former Coast Guard Chief Detained "Risk of Evidence Tampering and Flight"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Seo Wook, former Minister of National Defense (59), and Kim Honghee, former Commissioner of the Korea Coast Guard (54), who were involved in the 'West Sea Civil Servant Shooting' incident, have been detained.

With the detention of these high-ranking officials, the investigation into the Moon Jae-in administration's security line related to this case has gained momentum. There are also prospects that the summons of former National Security Office Director Seo Hoon and former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won will be expedited. There is speculation that the prosecution's investigation could, depending on circumstances, extend to former President Moon Jae-in, who was at the top decision-making level regarding North Korea at the time.

On the early morning of the 22nd, Seoul Central District Court Judge Kim Sang-woo, in charge of warrants, issued detention warrants for them, citing "risk of evidence destruction and flight" after conducting the pre-trial detention hearing for former Minister Seo and former Commissioner Kim the previous day.

Former Minister Seo arrived at the court for the warrant hearing the previous morning wearing a navy suit and a sky-blue shirt. When reporters asked questions such as "Do you admit the charges?" and "How will you explain yourself?", he did not respond and entered the courtroom. After the approximately four-hour hearing, he left the court without any comment. During this process, Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of the late Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries civil servant Lee Dae-jun, who was killed, rushed forward causing a commotion but was restrained by security personnel.

Kim, the former Commissioner who was the overall head of the Coast Guard investigation into Lee's case, also appeared at the court that afternoon and underwent the warrant hearing conducted by Judge Kim.

Earlier, the Public Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Heedong), which is investigating this case, filed detention warrants on the 18th against former Minister Seo, former Commissioner Kim, and others on charges including abuse of authority. This was the first strong move to secure the custody of key suspects since the investigation began in June following a complaint from the bereaved family.

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

According to the audit results announced by the Board of Audit and Inspection 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 former Minister Seo's orders. The audit board judged that the Moon Jae-in administration unjustifiably concluded that Lee had voluntarily defected, citing charges of dereliction of duty, abuse of authority, and falsification of official documents.

Former Commissioner 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 'West Sea Civil Servant Shooting Incident' refers to the killing of civil servant Lee by North Korean soldiers in the West Sea in 2020. At the 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. Accordingly, the Board of Audit and Inspection launched an audit in June.

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

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