People Power Party: "Democratic Party's Refusal to Disclose Data Shows Intent to Obstruct Access to West Sea Officials' Records"

Attorney Kim Ki-yoon, the legal representative of the bereaved family of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official killed by North Korean soldiers in September 2020 (from left), Lee Rae-jin (elder brother), and the spouse of the slain official are announcing their position on the so-called 'West Sea Official Killing Incident' announced the previous day by the Presidential Office and the Coast Guard at the Seoul Bar Association building in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 17th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The People Power Party demanded that the truth be revealed regarding the killing of the public official in the West Sea and called on the Democratic Party of Korea to cooperate in disclosing the materials.

On the 19th, Heo Eun-ah, the chief spokesperson of the People Power Party, said in a statement, "It took two years for the victim of the West Sea public official killing case to be restored from being labeled as a 'defector' to simply a 'public official.'" She added, "The deceased’s son, who was a teenager at the time, felt betrayed and hurt by a country where he believed the president’s words as gospel. The statement that the deceased could not hold a funeral while being falsely accused of defection revealed resentment and injustice toward the country."

Spokesperson Heo criticized, "Woo Sang-ho, the emergency committee chairman of the Democratic Party, dismisses this as a political attack, calling it 'killing Moon Jae-in, killing the previous administration,' when it concerns the human rights of a family." She pointed out, "The Democratic Party’s perception of the human rights of citizens who died unjustly has not changed one bit."

Regarding Woo’s statement that he has 'no intention to cooperate' with the inspection of the materials related to the killed public official case, which have been designated as presidential records, Heo evaluated, "There is not only a lack of will to uncover the truth but even an intention to obstruct."

Heo mentioned the Board of Audit and Inspection’s audit of the Ministry of National Defense and the Coast Guard, saying, "Although the incident happened two years ago, the true resolution of the case starts now." She promised, "The People Power Party will launch the ‘West Sea Public Official Killing Case Truth Investigation Task Force’ and will continue efforts until the buried truth is revealed."

Regarding the Democratic Party, she said, "If the Democratic Party is confident that there was no concealment in the reporting and handling process of the incident, they should actively cooperate in disclosing all the materials from that time."

Meanwhile, Woo Sang-ho, at a press briefing on the same day, said, "I opposed the disclosure of materials related to the Northern Limit Line (NLL) and summit talks in the past," adding, "Which country would disclose major intelligence related to inter-Korean summits or national security for political strife?"

He pointed out, "The reason for not disclosing is national security, not because the content is disadvantageous." Woo said, "If this information is disclosed, North Korea will know which intelligence agency is eavesdropping through which route and what information is being extracted." He criticized, "We would have to change all the frequencies of our eavesdropping agencies and neutralize all human intelligence contacts with North Korea. If the purpose is to do this, then let’s disclose it with a two-thirds vote. This is truly irresponsible."