[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, strongly criticized President Moon Jae-in for not ordering a rescue despite receiving a written report while the public official who was shot on Yeonpyeong Island was still alive.
On the 25th, Ha appeared on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" and said, "The president received a written report but did not order a rescue."
He stated, "The Ministry of National Defense also mentioned yesterday that the first report was received in writing while our citizen was still alive," specifying the time as "6:36 PM" on the day of the incident. The public official, Mr. Lee, is estimated to have been shot around 10 PM on the 22nd.
When the host asked again, "Did the president know before Mr. Lee was killed? Did he receive intelligence, even if at a preliminary level?" Ha replied, "Yes, he received a written report," adding, "The intelligence was reliable, and the time was 6:36 PM."
Ha pointed out that despite Mr. Lee being alive, there was no presidential order for rescue. He said, "When asked if there was any instruction from the Blue House after the written report, whether there was an order to rescue, they said 'There was no order to rescue, no specific instructions.' So I said, 'That was the biggest misjudgment. Shouldn't they have said to rescue and gotten permission?' They replied, 'They did not expect it to turn out this way.'"
Ha criticized, "There is also a contradiction. When the Ministry of National Defense reported publicly, they said North Korea has an order to shoot intruders without permission due to COVID-19, so when asked if there were such cases, the Ministry said 'Yes.' Then shouldn't we have considered the worst-case scenario?"
He added, "At the North Korea-China border, whether it was Chinese or not, they shot an intruder without permission. Then we should expect even worse inter-Korean relations," and criticized, "Being military and security means planning actions considering the worst risks, but the military made a misjudgment there."
Ha also pointed out that if it was known that North Korea was controlling Mr. Lee, it should have been announced on our broadcasts. He said, "At 3 PM, it was confirmed that North Korea was controlling him. Then it should have been broadcasted," adding, "There was a missing person case, various possibilities were being considered, and contact with North Korea was being attempted, so this should have been announced on air."
He said, "The nation's mission is to protect the lives of our citizens first, but they did not make the best effort for that," and criticized, "They took no action and spent more than three days only on intelligence gathering and analysis. So the military became an intelligence agency."
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