Ruling Party Counters Opposition's Full-Scale Attack on Western Sea Killed Official with 'Color Politics'

Cheong 출신 Yoon Geon-young "16 Myeong-eul Jug-in Yeopgijeok Salin Yongu-ja"
"Jeongbu Segeum-euro Bohohal Geos-inji Pandanhaessdeon Geot"

Yoon Geon-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee plenary meeting held at the National Assembly on the 28th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Following the killing of a government official in the West Sea, the ruling party has launched an offensive using expressions such as 'security manipulation' regarding the 2019 repatriation incident of North Korean fishermen. The Democratic Party is countering with accusations of 'colorism.' The party has particularly emphasized that there was no need for our government to protect the fishermen who killed 16 colleagues, were captured, expressed their intention to defect, and were then repatriated to North Korea.

Yoon Gun-young, a former head of the Blue House National Situation Room under the Moon Jae-in administration, appeared on TBS Radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' on the 14th to reveal details of the incident, highlighting that the repatriated fishermen were heinous criminals.

According to Rep. Yoon, three fishermen killed 16 others who were on the same boat, then entered Jagang Province to escape. One was arrested by North Korean authorities, while the other two fled to international waters with the boat, attempted to escape upon seeing our navy, but were captured.

Rep. Yoon described the two crew members as "not innocent fishermen trying to defect to our country, but grotesque murder suspects who killed 16 people," adding, "They submitted a defection intention letter after being captured by the navy, but the government at the time could not trust the sincerity of their defection."

He further explained, "The government had to decide whether to protect grotesque murder suspects who killed 16 people with taxpayers' money."

Former Blue House spokesperson and public communication chief Park Soo-hyun also mentioned the risks of recognizing their defection on Facebook. Park wrote, "In a situation where they destroyed all evidence, including discarding murder weapons, they could have reversed their statements in a South Korean court, been acquitted, become defectors, and lived openly among South Korean citizens."

Along with this, he introduced Article 3 of the 'North Korean Refugees Act,' which states that the law applies only to North Korean defectors who express the intention to receive protection from the Republic of Korea, emphasizing that the repatriated fishermen were not subjects for protection by the South Korean government.