Ministry of National Defense "Regrets Democratic Party Ministers and Vice Ministers' Distortion of 'West Sea Official' Remarks"
[Asia Economy Military Specialist Yang Nak-gyu] The Ministry of National Defense expressed "deep regret" on the 5th, stating that the Democratic Party of Korea distorted the remarks of Minister Lee Jong-seop and Vice Minister Shin Beom-cheol regarding the West Sea civil servant shooting incident raised at the National Assembly audit on the 4th.
On the same day, the Ministry of National Defense issued a statement regarding the Democratic Party of Korea Defense Committee members' statement on the West Sea civil servant incident, rebutting that "the Democratic Party Defense Committee members arbitrarily interpreted and distorted the facts."
The Ministry of National Defense denied the Democratic Party's claim that both the "reversal of defection to North Korea" and "closure of investigation" were planned during the National Security Council (NSC) working-level coordination meetings and standing committee meetings held on May 24 and 26. They explained, "At the NSC meetings at that time, matters related to the 'withdrawal of appeal in the information disclosure lawsuit concerning the West Sea civil servant shooting incident' were discussed, but there was no discussion about 'reversal of defection' or 'closure of investigation.'"
They added, "Despite the Minister and Vice Minister of National Defense repeatedly clarifying during yesterday's audit that 'defection' or 'closure of investigation' were not discussed at the NSC meetings, making such claims is nothing but baseless political attacks."
The Ministry of National Defense stated, "We hope that the ongoing audit and investigation will reveal the accurate facts, and that these procedures will proceed smoothly," and added, "We will actively cooperate with the audit and investigation."
Furthermore, they expressed "deep regret over the unilateral and distorted statement issued by the Democratic Party Defense Committee members, and emphasized that during this critical security situation, the Ministry of National Defense will steadfastly focus on its fundamental mission of national defense."
At the National Defense audit the previous day, Democratic Party lawmakers claimed that the government planned to reverse the defection and close the investigation in May of this year regarding the West Sea civil servant shooting incident.
Democratic Party lawmakers belonging to the National Defense Committee issued a statement on the same day, reiterating the claim that Minister Lee and Vice Minister Shin acknowledged that discussions about closing the investigation took place at the NSC meetings.
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