SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) — Prosecutors questioned a former chief of the Coast Guard on Friday as part of their investigation into the previous administration’s handling of the 2020 death of a South Korean fisheries official at the hands of North Korea.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office summoned former Commissioner General Kim Hong-hee, who at the time was responsible for an investigation into the death.
Prosecutors have been looking into allegations that the Moon Jae-in administration at the time concluded without sufficient evidence that the official was killed while attempting to defect to the North.
The 47-year-old fisheries official, Lee Dae-jun, was fatally shot by the North’s coast guard near the Yellow Sea border between the two Koreas, a day after going missing while on duty on board a fishery inspection vessel.
The Moon government concluded the official was shot and killed while trying to defect to the North. But the Coast Guard and the military reversed the conclusion in June, saying there was no evidence to suggest such motives.
On Thursday, the state auditor also requested the prosecution to investigate 20 people, including top security officials of the previous government, on charges of covering up and distorting facts in the case.
Among them are former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon, former National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Park Jie-won and former Defense Minister Suh Wook.
Prosecutors are expected to summon the two former NIS chiefs sometime soon for questioning.
Source: Yonhap News Agency