Prosecutors to Summon Former NIS Director Park Ji-won on the 14th over 'West Sea Shooting' Incident

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution will summon former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Park Ji-won on the 14th for questioning regarding the 'West Sea Public Official Shooting Incident.'

According to the legal community on the 13th, the Public Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Hee-dong) notified former Director Park to appear at the prosecution office at 10 a.m. on the 14th.

Former Director Park wrote on his social media service (SNS) Facebook account the previous afternoon, "The summons schedule has been coordinated between the prosecution and my attorney. I will comply with the prosecution's summons," adding, "I hope for a public summons."

Former Director Park was reported by the NIS in July on charges of unauthorized deletion of intelligence-related reports concerning the situation when the late Lee Dae-jun, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official, was shot by North Korean soldiers in September 2020 (abuse of authority under the National Intelligence Service Act).

According to the Board of Audit and Inspection's audit results, after the inter-ministerial meeting held at 1 a.m. on September 23 of that year, the day after Lee's shooting was confirmed, the NIS deleted 46 pieces of materials, including intelligence reports, without authorization.

The prosecution suspects that former Director Park, after attending the inter-ministerial meeting, received instructions from former National Security Office Chief Seo Hoon to "maintain confidentiality" and ordered the deletion of NIS documents.

Former Director Park denies the charges, stating that he never gave such deletion orders nor instructed NIS staff regarding this matter.

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