Coast Guard: "North Korean-Killed Official Judged to Have Defected North to Escape Reality"
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] The Coast Guard, after stating again that the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who went missing at sea near Soyeonpyeongdo in the northern West Sea and was killed by North Korea was judged to have defected to the North, faced criticism from Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, on the 22nd, who said, "The Coast Guard is continuing its character assassination."
On the same day, Ha posted on his Facebook, "The Coast Guard has once again made a baseless announcement regarding the investigation of our official's disappearance. Without a single medical opinion, they made an absurd assumption that he must have defected to the North in a state of mental panic. It is cruel and even more cruel," he said.
He added, "It has only been about two weeks since President Moon Jae-in sent a letter to the victim's son promising to restore his honor," and said, "Is the Coast Guard continuing this character assassination under the President's orders? Or are they trying to escape responsibility for failing to rescue the citizen? In any case, this is unforgivable."
He continued, "Even in today's announcement, the Coast Guard failed to present any direct evidence proving the causal relationship with defection," and criticized, "Instead, they reached the absurd conclusion that people addicted to gambling are potential defectors."
He then pointed out, "According to experts, about two million people are addicted to gambling. They are making an unreasonable conclusion that two million of our citizens are potential defectors."
Ha also said, "The Coast Guard added yet another lie," emphasizing, "They said it looked like he took a moving fender, but they did not confirm whether anything was missing. However, this is a clear lie."
He continued, "Last night, I boarded the fisheries guidance ship and confirmed directly that if anything was missing from the moving fender, it could be immediately verified," and criticized, "The Coast Guard, which neglects analysis and reflection on the cause of the rescue failure and focuses only on the character assassination of the victim, is not the police of the Republic of Korea."
The ID card of government official A (47), who went missing near Soyeonpyeongdo in the northern West Sea and was shot dead by North Korea. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Earlier that day, the Coast Guard reiterated that the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official, Mr. A, was judged to have voluntarily defected to the North.
The Korea Coast Guard held a press briefing regarding the missing official Mr. A, stating, "Mr. A was deeply immersed in online gambling, frequently gambling before, during, and after dispatch," and "It is judged that he defected to the North as a means of escaping reality in a state of mental panic."
According to the Coast Guard's announcement, Mr. A had been involved in online gambling amounting to hundreds of millions of won from June last year until just before his disappearance. The total gambling funds amounted to 123 million won, which he borrowed from his salary, financial institutions, and acquaintances.
In particular, before his disappearance, he received 7.3 million won from 34 colleagues and acquaintances under the pretext of "buying crabs," which he also deposited into his gambling account. It is known that Mr. A lost this money as well, leaving his bank account nearly empty.
Additionally, the Coast Guard estimated that Mr. A wore a life jacket and defected to the North by riding on a floating object about 1.5 meters in length. However, since there are no records, they could not specify the life jacket or the floating object.
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