Seo Hoon Opposes Prosecutor's Arrest Warrant... "Attempt to Conceal Case, Unimaginable"

"Policy Decisions Related to National Security... Difficult to Accept Judicial Review Afterwards"

Seohun, former Director of the National Security Office. / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Seo Hoon, former National Security Office chief and the top official in charge of North Korea security under the Moon Jae-in administration, who had an arrest warrant requested in connection with the ‘West Sea Public Official Shooting Incident,’ claimed that "it is unimaginable to attempt to cover up the incident."

Seo’s side issued a statement on the 30th, actively refuting the prosecution’s investigation. Seo explained the situation on September 23, 2020, immediately after the incident, saying, "At that time, related intelligence was shared among multiple ministries including the Ministry of National Defense, the National Intelligence Service, the National Security Office, and the Ministry of Unification, and if you include the working-level personnel, more than 200 to 300 people were aware of it, so it is unimaginable to attempt a cover-up." He added, "However, maintaining confidentiality until the official announcement to protect the source of intelligence and verify its reliability is only natural."

Regarding the suspicion that a policy to announce that the late Lee Dae-jun had ‘voluntarily defected to the North’ was decided at the meeting, Seo said, "At that time, it was never concluded that he defected to the North, and it is not true that information contradicting the defection was selectively deleted from the intelligence content." He added, "Nowhere in the warrant’s criminal facts does it state that intelligence contradicting the defection was selectively deleted."

Seo claimed that the prosecution pushed the narrative of defection considering inter-Korean relations during the investigation process. He explained, "Shooting a defector actually reveals the brutality of the North Korean regime and contradicts considerations of inter-Korean relations."

The scenarios Seo’s side considered immediately after Lee Dae-jun’s disappearance were threefold: accidental fall, extreme choice, and attempted defection. Among these, Lee was found in North Korean waters wearing a life jacket and floating on debris, and it was confirmed that he expressed an intention to defect, so Seo’s side managed the situation with the possibility of defection in mind.

Seo said, "Among the criminal facts, there is a charge of falsifying official documents related to the investigation report or press release, but if that logic is applied, all indictments or related press releases of acquitted cases could be problematic for falsifying official documents." He added, "This case involved policy decisions based on various intelligence collected from multiple ministries in a serious and urgent national security situation, and it is difficult to accept judicial judgment on it retrospectively."