Geun-sik Kim, Chairman of the People Power Party's Songpa-byeong District in Seoul Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Ju-hee] Kim Geun-sik, the head of the People Power Party's Songpa-byeong district committee in Seoul, pointed out that "North Korea views our Republic of Korea citizens as targets for shooting" regarding the death of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who went missing on Yeonpyeong Island.
On the 24th, Kim wrote on his Facebook, "No matter how much the Moon Jae-in administration showed goodwill and affection toward the North and hoped for reconciliation and cooperation, to Kim Jong-un's North Korea, the Republic of Korea is nothing but a target for shooting," he said.
Kim explained, "In 2008 at Mount Kumgang, they shot because someone entered a military zone. In 2020 at the West Sea NLL, they shot a South Korean citizen who expressed an intention to defect to the North and poured oil to burn the body," adding, "If someone expresses an intention to defect, the minimum common sense and humanitarian measure is to first hear their statement and then either admit them to the North based on the incident, forcibly deport them according to legal procedures, or repatriate them to the South."
He continued, "Even though the person was clearly from the South, and despite securing the individual on a patrol boat and hearing their intention to defect, shooting them on orders from superiors is an extrajudicial execution that goes beyond common sense and human ethics," and added, "Pouring oil to burn and abandon the body is an unimaginably barbaric act. Would anyone still harbor unrequited love and lingering attachment toward the North that regards the South as a target for shooting?"
He further emphasized, "At the very moment President Moon proposed a community of life, the North cruelly took the life of a Republic of Korea citizen," and said, "The truth must be clearly investigated, responsibility must be firmly held, and decisive action must be taken."
Kim warned President Moon, saying, "If our military identified the shooting but concealed and covered it up because of President Moon's UN speech, political and legal responsibility must be borne without fail."
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