Older Brother of North Korea-Shot Official: "Younger Brother Did Not Attempt to Defect... Military to Conduct Full Life Jacket Inspection"

"Conducting Life Jacket Survey to Create Term 'Wolbuk'"
"To Defect to North Korea, One Should Have Taken Official ID...Possibility of Falling into the Sea by Accident"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The older brother of government official A (47), who went missing near Soyeonpyeongdo in the northern West Sea and was shot dead by North Korea, has directly refuted the military authorities' claim that he defected to the North. A’s older brother, Lee Rae-jin (55), said in a phone interview on the 25th, "(The military authorities) defined the term 'defection to the North' based on the fact that my brother was wearing a life jacket and was carried by floating debris to North Korea," adding, "However, it has not been confirmed whether my brother jumped in wearing a life jacket or fell into the sea by accident."

According to Lee, the military authorities called the West Sea Fisheries Guidance Ship searching for A around 6:30 p.m. on the 22nd and demanded a "full investigation of the life jackets remaining on the ship." Lee claimed, "At that time, I was on board that ship searching for my brother, and the military’s request to investigate the number of remaining life jackets on a ship searching for a missing person, citing military secrets, seems like an attempt to create the term 'defection to the North'." He said, "Isn't it more likely that my brother grabbed floating debris like styrofoam drifting in the sea after falling by accident?" He added, "If my brother intended to defect to North Korea, he would have taken an official ID card that North Korea would trust, but his official ID and identification card remain on the ship he was on." Lee also mentioned that when he was on the fisheries guidance ship participating in the search, he confirmed that the current direction was toward Ganghwa Island, not northward, dismissing the military’s premature suggestion of defection to the North.

It was investigated that A was not seen around 11:30 a.m., lunchtime on the day he went missing, and other crew members searched inside the ship and nearby waters before reporting to the Coast Guard. The military detected signs on the afternoon of the 22nd, the day after the disappearance, through intelligence that the missing person was found in North Korean waters, but only publicly disclosed on the afternoon of the 23rd, two days after the disappearance, that "the survival of the missing person cannot be confirmed at this time." A military official said at the time, "We obtained information that a missing person, exhausted, was first found on floating debris capable of holding one person while wearing a life jacket," mentioning the possibility of 'voluntary defection to the North.'

Lee criticized, "What was the military doing during the minimum 20 hours my brother crossed from south of the NLL to North Korea?" and said, "It is clear negligence and subject to disciplinary action that the military did not guard while my brother was drifting in our waters." He continued, "Announcing voluntary defection to avoid disciplinary action and disclosing family and financial issues to the media is defamation of the deceased." He said, "The military must clarify whether they observed my brother’s movement and his route," and added, "If the government response is inadequate or the Ministry of National Defense does not reveal the truth, I will hold an official press conference."