Park Ji-won "Even the National Intelligence Service had documents deleted"... Investigated for 12 hours and 30 minutes before going home

"Didn’t Know This Until Now"
"No Order to Delete Documents"... Existing Position Maintained
Bereaved Family Files Complaint Against Former President Moon Jae-in

Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won is answering reporters' questions as he arrives at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul on the 14th. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

[Asia Economy Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist Reporter] Former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Park Ji-won, who was accused of unauthorized deletion of intelligence reports related to the 'West Sea Civil Servant Shooting' incident, completed a 12-hour and 30-minute prosecution investigation on the 14th and claimed, "I newly learned during the investigation that it is possible to delete NIS documents."

After finishing the prosecution investigation at around 10:32 p.m. that day, former Director Park met with reporters and said, "I had always said that 'deletion' fundamentally does not exist in the NIS, but during today's investigation, I saw that deletion is possible," adding, "I learned a significant fact this time."

This statement implies that he realized through the investigation that his previous claim?that all NIS documents leave records on the main server and complete deletion is impossible?was incorrect.

However, when asked whether any documents were actually deleted at the time of the incident, former Director Park avoided answering, saying, "I will not respond specifically."

Nevertheless, he maintained his previous assertion that he never instructed NIS staff to delete documents or reports related to the incident.

He emphasized, "I did not order employees to delete anything, and at that time, I did not even know about deletion," adding, "I did not receive any deletion orders from former President Moon Jae-in or former National Security Office Director Seo Hoon."

At around midnight that day, former Director Park posted on his Facebook, "I underwent an intense 12-hour and 30-minute prosecution investigation," and expressed gratitude, saying, "I thank the prosecutors and investigators who conducted the investigation politely, and also thank the chief prosecutor."

He stated, "I testified truthfully and as it is. I reformed the NIS and did not receive or give any deletion orders from anyone," and added, "Since I have believed until now that NIS materials cannot be deleted, I testified that I never instructed any report to be modified or deleted, and I was told that NIS employees testified the same."

Former Director Park was reported by the NIS in July this year on charges of unauthorized deletion of related intelligence reports and others with the intent to conceal the fact that the late Lee Dae-jun, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official, was shot by North Korean soldiers on September 22, 2020 (abuse of authority under the National Intelligence Service Act).

According to the Board of Audit and Inspection's audit results, the NIS deleted 46 pieces of data, including intelligence reports, without authorization after a ministerial meeting held at 1 a.m. on the 23rd, the day after Lee's shooting.

The prosecution suspects that former Director Park, after attending this meeting, received instructions to maintain secrecy from former Director Seo Hoon (who is detained and indicted) and ordered the deletion of reports.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Public Investigation Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Lee Hee-dong), which is investigating this case, questioned former Director Park for about 12 hours and 30 minutes from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. that day.

Arriving at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, at around 9:50 a.m., he said, "I did not receive any deletion orders from former President Moon Jae-in or former National Security Office Director Seo Hoon," and "As the director, I did not tell employees to delete anything."

He added, "By investigating me today, I hope the reformed NIS will no longer be dragged into the political arena."

Meanwhile, on the afternoon of the same day, Lee's bereaved family filed a complaint against former President Moon at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. The family reportedly claimed in the complaint that former President Moon is suspected of dereliction of duty for not actively rescuing Lee despite knowing he was found in North Korean waters, and of fabricating false official documents and defaming the deceased by approving the investigation result that Lee voluntarily defected to the North, thereby labeling him as a defector.

Lee's elder brother, Lee Rae-jin, held a press conference in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office that day, stating, "We are submitting a complaint today against former President Moon, who was the top person responsible for concealment and manipulation," and added, "The powerless public cannot possibly know the details of concealment and manipulation using power, so we leave it to the judgment of the Constitution."

Earlier, on the 1st, former President Moon had stated that he was the final approver of the report on the West Sea shooting incident.

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