[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Board of Audit and Inspection has launched an audit into the shooting incident involving a public official in the West Sea.
On the 17th, the Board of Audit and Inspection announced that it plans to conduct a thorough review of the initial reporting process, procedures, and the legality and appropriateness of the handling of the case related to the West Sea public official shooting incident. Audit personnel from the Board’s Special Investigation Bureau will be deployed to collect data from relevant agencies such as the Korea Coast Guard and the Ministry of National Defense, organize the information, and then commence the audit.
Initially, the focus will be on examining the circumstances under which the two agencies concluded that Mr. Lee, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who died after being shot by North Korean soldiers while drifting in the West Sea in September 2020 and whose body was burned, had attempted to defect to North Korea. Depending on the findings, a full-scale audit may be initiated.
Previously, Mr. Lee was shot dead by North Korean soldiers on September 21, 2020, in the northern waters near Yeonpyeong Island along the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea. At that time, the Coast Guard released an interim investigation result stating that "it is judged that the deceased attempted to defect voluntarily." However, the Coast Guard and the Ministry of National Defense reversed this position in their final investigation results announced the day before, stating that "it is not possible to prove the missing official’s voluntary defection."
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