Park Ji-won, Director of the National Intelligence Service, is attending the full meeting of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee held at the National Assembly on the 25th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 6th, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) filed complaints against former NIS Directors Park Ji-won and Suh Hoon for violations of the National Intelligence Service Act and other charges related to the 'West Sea Public Official Killing Incident' and the 'Forced Repatriation of North Korean Fishermen Incident' that occurred during the Moon Jae-in administration.
The NIS announced this in a statement distributed to the press on the afternoon of the same day.
The NIS explained, "As a result of its own investigation, today it filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office against former Director Park Ji-won and others on charges including unauthorized deletion of intelligence-related reports concerning the West Sea public official shooting incident."
The charges applied to former Director Park include violations of the National Intelligence Service Act (abuse of authority) and damage to official electronic records, the NIS added.
Regarding the complaint against former Director Suh, the NIS stated, "He was reported for forcibly terminating a joint investigation early in connection with the forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen incident."
The charges mentioned by the NIS against former Director Suh include violations of the National Intelligence Service Act (abuse of authority) and falsification of official documents.
The West Sea public official killing incident involved Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official Lee Dae-jun, who went missing on September 21, 2020, while aboard a fishing guidance vessel near Soyeonpyeongdo, the northernmost island in the West Sea, and was subsequently shot by North Korean soldiers and his body burned.
On the 16th of last month, the Coast Guard and Ministry of National Defense reversed their October 2020 interim investigation result, which had presumed Lee’s voluntary defection to the North, stating they found no evidence of intent to defect.
The forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen incident occurred in November 2019, when two North Korean sailors killed 16 colleagues, defected, and expressed their intention to seek asylum, but were repatriated to North Korea through Panmunjom.
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