[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The son of Mr. Lee, a maritime fisheries official killed by North Korean soldiers in the West Sea, wrote a protest letter on the 20th to Woo Sang-ho, Chairman of the Emergency Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, who made remarks such as "What difference does it make whether it was a defection to the North or not?" regarding his father's incident.
Mr. Lee's son wrote the letter by hand under the title "To Representative Woo Sang-ho," stating, "Your affiliation is as a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, not the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," and questioned, "If whether it was a defection to the North is not important, then why did you insist it was a defection at that time and try to cover up the incident?"
He continued, "You showed no sympathy for the pain of a family who lost their husband and father to an enemy country, and irresponsibly made statements for political gain, which makes me question your qualifications as a member of the National Assembly," criticizing him.
Regarding the 'new colorism' mentioned by Chairman Woo, he said, "Are the judge who ruled to disclose information to the bereaved family and Quintana, the UN human rights rapporteur who ordered all incident-related information to be provided to the family, 'new colorists'?"
"If you are so confident, why did you remain silent when the judge ruled that the information should be disclosed and it was designated as presidential records?" he added. "If you are so sure about the (defection), you can disclose all the information about my father in the Presidential Archives even now."
Meanwhile, Lee Rae-jin, the older brother of the late Lee Dae-jun, the killed official, announced on the same day via his social media service (SNS) Facebook that he will file a complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office at 9:30 a.m. on the 22nd, accusing them of obstructing official duties. Lee said, "Former National Security Office Director Suh Hoon is scheduled to leave for the United States, so we are proceeding immediately."
Earlier, on the 16th, the Ministry of National Defense expressed regret over the 'presumed defection attempt' announcement regarding the late Lee Dae-jun and revealed that on September 27, 2020, they received instructions from the Blue House National Security Office on how to respond to key issues related to the incident. The bereaved family judged that there were specific instructions from the Blue House in the government's announcement that "defection is presumed," and decided to prioritize filing complaints against former National Security Office Director Suh, former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Kim, and former Secretary Lee Kwang-chul.
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