SEOUL (Reuters) – There was no evidence that the South Korean fisheries official shot and burned by North Korean troops in 2020 meant to defect, South Korea’s maritime and navy authorities stated on Thursday, reversing its earlier announcement.
The official, Lee Dae-jun, went lacking at sea in September 2020 whereas working as a fishing inspector. North Korean authorities later shot him dead https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-southkorea-official-idUSKCN26E3NY and set his physique on hearth, an incident that shocked many South Koreans and elevated cross-border pressure.
South Korea’s coast guard and navy stated on the time that Lee appeared to have sought to defect to the North, citing intelligence sources and his playing debt. But Lee’s household refuted https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-southkorea-shooting-idUSKBN26K0GD the declare, elevating a lawsuit calling for the disclosure of authorities information.
The authorities reversed their earlier announcement on Thursday, saying a reinvestigation decided there was no such evidence.
“We couldn’t discover evidence that he had made efforts to cross the border into the North,” Park Sang-choon, a coast guard official, advised a briefing.
Yoon Hyung-jin, an official on the defence ministry, apologised for “inflicting confusion” by making an assumption-based announcement.
“As a outcome of reinvestigation, we couldn’t confirm the lacking official voluntarily went to the North, however I can clearly say that there was evidence that the North Korean troops shot him dead and burned his physique,” Yoon stated on the identical briefing.
Ethan Hee-seok Shin, a authorized analyst who works with Lee’s household, welcomed the reversal, however stated the household sue once more, searching for penalties for individuals who had initially investigated the case and accused Lee of defecting.
“It is a welcome growth that the brand new authorities is lastly shifting … to right the mean-spirited blame sport in opposition to the late Lee Dae-jun,” Shin advised Reuters.
South Korea’s new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, met Lee’s household earlier than taking workplace in May and promised to assist discover the reality.
Yoon’s workplace stated it has withdrawn the earlier authorities’s enchantment for a decrease courtroom ruling that allowed the disclosure of some paperwork owned by the presidential workplace and coast guard.
North Korea had defended Lee’s killing as a “self-defensive measure https://www.reuters.com/article/northkorea-southkorea-idINKBN27F0CH” to move off a coronavirus outbreak, with chief Kim Jong Un making a uncommon apology days after the incident.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
