The Last 6 Hours of Survival for Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Officials... Did the Moon Administration Really Have No Will to Save Them?

"The Ministry of National Defense confirmed that after 3:30 PM on the 22nd of September 2020, when the survival of Lee Dae-jun was verified, there were no rescue orders from the President until Lee Dae-jun's death."

Ha Tae-kyung, head of the People Power Party's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries civil servant shooting incident fact-finding task force, is holding a meeting with the bereaved family member Lee Rae-jin at the National Assembly on the 24th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] On the 24th, Ha Tae-kyung, the head of the People Power Party's Task Force investigating the shooting incident of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official, stated at a mid-term press conference, "As is known, there was a written report to the President at 6:30 PM on the 22nd, but the Ministry of National Defense stated that there were no instructions received from the President until Lee Dae-jun's death," he said.

Responsibility debates over the death of Lee Dae-jun, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who was shot and killed by North Korea in the West Sea in 2020 and whose body was burned, are intensifying against the Moon Jae-in administration. The key issue is what President Moon did during the approximately six hours after the Moon administration obtained intelligence that Lee had been detected by North Korean authorities and before Lee was killed, and whether the government had any intention to rescue him.

After Lee went missing, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others reported to the Blue House that the possibility of defection to the North was low, but from the morning report on the 24th, it is said that they changed their stance to a high possibility of defection. After the press conference, Representative Ha told reporters, "The Ministry of National Defense also changed its position, and in the meantime, there was a countermeasure meeting at the Blue House."

Lee Dae-jun's older brother, Lee Rae-jin, attended a family invitation meeting hosted by the shooting incident investigation TF and said, "It was the golden time," adding, "We requested information disclosure to clarify the President's time during these six hours, but the Presidential Archives yesterday announced a 'complete refusal.'"

According to the report the People Power Party TF received from the Ministry of National Defense, it is presumed that the Moon Jae-in administration did not take appropriate measures such as repatriation efforts. Representative Ha said in the mid-term announcement, "The Ministry of National Defense expressed deep regret and took responsibility for the fact that after recognizing intelligence that Lee was found alive in North Korean waters, the government did not actively demand the North to rescue and repatriate the missing person using all available means at the government level," and added, "The then-President Moon Jae-in's statement that it was difficult to respond because the inter-Korean communication line was cut off was not true. The Ministry of National Defense confirmed this."

Ha Tae-kyung, head of the People Power Party's Task Force for the Truth Investigation of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Official Shooting Incident, visited the Korea Coast Guard in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon on the 22nd and greeted Commissioner Jeong Bong-hoon. Ha visited the Korea Coast Guard for an on-site inspection to uncover the truth behind the West Sea official shooting incident, in which a government official was shot by North Korean soldiers in 2020. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

It was also reported that the government deployed more search forces after Lee's body was incinerated than before. Representative Ha announced, "According to the 'Status of military ships and aircraft deployed for daily searches' reported by the Ministry of National Defense to the TF, the number of ships mobilized from the day Lee went missing on the 21st to the 24th was 5, 9, 6, and 8 respectively, but from September 25 to October 2, it sharply increased to 16 ships per day." Around 10:30 PM on the 22nd, the Blue House received information about the killing.

Also, the TF revealed that there was evidence that the government at the time conducted a 'defection framing.' Representative Ha said, "The total volume of intelligence secured by our military at the time corresponds to seven hours of communication, which is a vast amount. However, the word 'defection' appeared only once in a single sentence, and there was no defection-related content before or after that communication," and pointed out, "The timing of the appearance of the word 'defection' was confirmed to be two hours after Lee was found by the North Korean side, not immediately after. If there had been a firm intention to defect, detailed defection-related content should have appeared and been mentioned immediately after discovery."

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Shin Won-sik, the ruling party secretary of the National Defense Committee, criticized, "This case is fabricated. It is increasingly likely that the Moon Jae-in administration sacrificed the people and trampled on their honor to cover up its mistakes and appease North Korea, committing an anti-constitutional and anti-human rights crime," and added, "There were several opportunities to save Lee Dae-jun, but they failed to do so properly. In other words, it was incompetence."

Nine senior Coast Guard officials, including Commissioner Jung Bong-hoon, resigned en masse the day before. The Coast Guard stated that it deeply regrets overall responsibility related to this incident.

Earlier, the Coast Guard announced interim investigation results one week after Lee was shot and killed by North Korean soldiers, concluding that he defected to the North. The main evidence was intelligence from military interception of North Korean communication signals and maritime drift prediction results analyzed by specialized agencies. The Coast Guard also cited Lee's frequent gambling and debts before his death as grounds for the defection judgment.

However, on the 16th, after one year and nine months, the Coast Guard held a press briefing and overturned the investigation results, stating that they could not find evidence of Lee's intention to defect. Commissioner Jung apologized to the public and the bereaved families on the 22nd, saying, "I sincerely apologize for causing many misunderstandings regarding the investigation results of the shooting of the official."