[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Min Hong-cheol, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out on the 20th that the evidence regarding the West Sea government official killing incident remains the same, but only the judgment seems to have changed, suggesting a political nature behind it. He introduced that lawmakers from the People Power Party at the time also accepted the military's judgment and other aspects.
Min, who was the chairman of the National Defense Committee at the time of the incident, appeared on YTN Radio's "News King Park Ji-hoon" and said, "There were investigation results and materials from the Coast Guard's investigation at the time, and based on those, whether it was an assumption or a conclusion, the investigation results were announced. Now, about one year and nine months later, it seems only the judgment has changed while the materials remain the same." He added, "I don't know if the judgment was changed based on newly discovered evidence or any grounds, but from my perspective, there is also a political aspect." He further stated, "I think there is an aspect of politicizing this issue. The facts, evidence investigation, and data investigation should remain unchanged."
He said, "Right after the incident, the National Defense Committee was convened, and we received a report from the minister," introducing, "It was reported that various military intelligence assessments indicated signs of an intention to defect to the North."
Min said, "The indication was based on various military-related Special Intelligence (SI) that the military authorities used to make their judgment," and "I was informed that there was a high possibility that the individual attempted to defect to the North." Although he said, "I did not personally review the SI or intelligence materials at the time," he added, "Since the military authorities made their judgment based on various SIs, lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties trusted the military." Min also said, "At the time, lawmakers from both sides asked various questions about the military authorities' report, and the military responded, leading to acceptance of the report by lawmakers from both sides."
He introduced, "At the time, the National Defense Committee also insisted on fully disclosing the intelligence, but the military said that was not possible."
Regarding the politicization of the incident at the time, Min said, "I believe there is a strong intention to expose the Moon Jae-in administration's pro-North Korea policy in some way."
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