Prosecutors: "Park Ji-won ordered retrieval and deletion of 'West Sea killing intelligence'"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Dae-hyun] The prosecution has determined that the Ministry of National Intelligence and the Ministry of National Defense conducted an organized operation, including data deletion, to conceal the death of the late Lee Dae-jun, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who was killed in North Korea, the day after his death.

According to the legal community on the 13th, the indictment submitted by the Ministry of Justice to the National Assembly the previous day against former Director Park and former Minister of National Defense Seo Wook stated that on the night of September 22, 2020, after the Blue House National Security Office became aware of Lee’s death, an emergency security ministers’ meeting was convened at 1 a.m. the next day, instructing to "thoroughly maintain security regarding the shooting and incineration of the body and ensure that no information leaks externally."

Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won listens to reporters' questions as he appears at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on December 14 last year. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

Immediately after the meeting, former Minister Seo called the Chief of Operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff Operations Headquarters and ordered a "high-intensity security operation." He instructed ▲to collect and destroy all materials related to the West Sea public official incident ▲to conduct training via video conference if subordinate units were aware of the incident ▲and for the Ministry of National Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff to take responsibility and implement measures.

Following these orders, instructions such as "Delete all West Sea-related matters," "Destroy all intelligence and sheets and prohibit citation or uploading to other reports," and "Do not disseminate related information to anyone, including the commanding officers of the relevant units" were conveyed to the responsible units and related agencies.

The prosecution viewed that 60 intelligence reports within the Military Information Management System (MIMS) received by 56 units and 5,417 intelligence reports within the information distribution network of 18 units were deleted. Contrary to former Minister Seo’s claim that the deletion was merely an adjustment of distribution lines to maintain security rather than deleting original intelligence or reports, the prosecution judged that most documents, including original intelligence audio files, were deleted or damaged.

It was also investigated that the National Intelligence Service conducted extensive deletion of intelligence and materials related to Lee’s case. According to the indictment, former Director Park attended the early morning security ministers’ meeting with former Minister Seo and instructed then-Chief Secretary Noh Eun-chae to "immediately delete intelligence and related materials collected by the National Intelligence Service from around September 22."

At around 9:30 a.m. on the 23rd, former Chief Secretary Noh convened the NIS Deputy Director and the Planning Office Director to convey the "Director’s instructions," requesting "to collect and delete all intelligence-related materials and maintain strict security." Accordingly, 55 items including intelligence containing keywords related to Lee’s case and reports analyzing them were deleted at the NIS.

When concealment of Lee’s death became impossible due to related reports, former Minister Seo, under the National Security Office’s instructions, is understood to have carried out a "defection fabrication" by portraying Lee as a voluntary defector to North Korea. He ordered the preparation of reports selecting only certain on-site situations to make it appear as if Lee defected voluntarily and conducted false investigation result announcements and briefings.

The prosecution indicted former Minister Seo and former Director Park last December on charges including abuse of authority and damage to official electronic records.