21il Gukmin Siljong → 22il Mun Daetongryeong Bogo → 23il "Jongjeonseongeon"

North Korea Shooting and Body Mutilation... Government Response by Time
Cheong: "President's Speech Was Recorded Before the Shooting Occurred"

President Moon Jae-in delivered a keynote speech via video at the 75th United Nations General Assembly held at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA, on the morning of the 23rd (Korean time).

On the 21st, despite North Korea shooting and killing a South Korean citizen in the West Sea and burning the body, President Moon Jae-in mentioned a 'Declaration of the End of the War' in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on the 23rd. In response, the Blue House stated on the 24th, "President Moon's speech was recorded on the 15th and sent to the UN on the 18th."

A senior Blue House official told reporters that day, "Please do not link this incident with the President's UN speech," explaining the situation.

According to the Blue House, after the disappearance incident first occurred on the 21st, the first written report was made to the President at 18:36 on the 22nd. It was a report related to intelligence that a West Sea Fisheries Guidance Management Unit employee was presumed to have fallen into the sea on the 21st, and a search was underway, with North Korea reportedly having found the missing person at sea.

Later, at 22:30 on the 22nd, more specific intelligence was obtained. It was intelligence that North Korea had shot the missing person, who had expressed an intention to defect to the North, and then cremated the body.

Based on this intelligence, an emergency meeting of relevant ministers was convened at the Blue House from 1:00 to 2:30 a.m. on the 23rd. The National Security Office Director, Chief of Staff, Minister of Unification, Director of the National Intelligence Service, and Minister of National Defense attended to share the situation. The senior Blue House official explained, "At this meeting, the credibility of the intelligence and countermeasures were discussed."

At 1:26 a.m., during the ministerial meeting, President Moon's UN General Assembly speech on the 'Declaration of the End of the War' began. At the 75th UN General Assembly general debate held at the UN headquarters in New York, President Moon, in his keynote speech, said, "The declaration of the end of the war will be the door that opens the path to a permanent peace regime along with denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula," requesting cooperation and support from the international community for the declaration. The speech, delivered via video, lasted 16 minutes.

In other words, at the time of the declaration of the end of the war speech, the government was already aware of the disappearance of a South Korean citizen and intelligence about North Korea shooting and mutilating the missing person’s body, yet the speech proceeded.

As controversy spread regarding this, the Blue House explained that the UN speech could not be canceled or modified based on intelligence-level information. A senior Blue House official said, "The President's speech was recorded on the 15th and sent to the UN on the 18th," adding, "We could not have predicted such an incident."

He explained, "The President's speech was broadcast from 1:26 a.m. for 16 minutes, while the ministerial meeting to evaluate the credibility of the intelligence was held from 1:00 to 2:30 a.m. on the same day." He added, "It was impossible to decide to cancel or modify the UN speech without confirmed credibility."

Furthermore, the President confirmed the facts of North Korea's shooting and mutilation at 8:30 a.m. on the 23rd. The senior Blue House official explained, "The intelligence obtained at 22:30 on the 22nd was not credible at that time," and thus was not reported to the President. He continued, "After further analysis, it was assessed as credible intelligence, and a face-to-face report was made between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. on the 23rd."

At that time, President Moon instructed to accurately ascertain the facts and also asked North Korea to confirm the related facts. The senior Blue House official conveyed that President Moon said, "If the intelligence proves true, it will be a matter that angers the people," and "I instructed to ascertain the facts and inform the public as they are."

Accordingly, at 4:35 a.m. on September 23, the government sent a notification to North Korea requesting fact-finding through the UN Command Military Armistice Commission channel.

With North Korea remaining unresponsive, the government convened another ministerial meeting at 8:00 a.m. on the 24th. The Ministry of National Defense reported analysis results related to the disappearance incident. Then at 9:00 a.m., National Security Office Director Suh Hoon and Chief of Staff Noh Young-min gave a face-to-face briefing to the President on the analysis results.

It is reported that President Moon once again questioned the credibility of the intelligence at this meeting. Upon receiving confirmation of high credibility, President Moon instructed, "Convene the NSC Standing Committee to organize the government's position and announce the facts discovered so far to the public as they are."

Seo Ju-seok, Secretary General of the National Security Council (NSC) and First Deputy Director of the National Security Office at the Blue House, is holding a briefing on the shooting death of the missing public official from Yeonpyeong Island on the afternoon of the 24th at the Blue House Chunuchu-gwan Grand Briefing Room.

Meanwhile, on the morning of the 24th, the Ministry of National Defense officially confirmed that the public official who went missing from Soyeonpyeong Island, the northernmost island in the West Sea, was shot by North Korea and then cremated.

Suh Joo-seok, Secretary General of the National Security Council (NSC), said at a briefing immediately after the NSC Standing Committee meeting that day, "The killing of our citizen by North Korean forces, who were unarmed and showed no intention to resist, by gunfire and the mutilation of the body cannot be justified for any reason." Suh added, "North Korea must take full responsibility for this incident, clearly reveal the truth, and severely punish those responsible."

Suh stated, "The actions of the North Korean military violate international norms and humanitarian principles," urging, "North Korea must apologize for this inhumane act and take clear measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents."

He continued, "We deeply mourn the death of the missing fisheries guidance officer who was sacrificed by North Korean forces," and said, "The government will strengthen border security posture in the inter-Korean border areas including the West Sea Five Islands and take all necessary measures to ensure the safe activities of our citizens. We declare that we will firmly respond to North Korea's actions that threaten the lives and safety of our people in the future."