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| In this Nov. 8, 2019, file photo, South Korea's Navy tows a boat used by two North Korean fishermen before handing it over to North Korean authorities. Courtesy of Unification Ministry |
By Jung Min-ho
The previous Moon Jae-in administration offered to repatriate two North Korean fishermen in 2019 even before Pyongyang made such a request, because "their intention to defect (to the South) was not sincere," according to intelligence documents.
The information was revealed Monday by Rep. Tae Yong-ho of the ruling People Power Party (PPP).
After the deportation decision ― the first such case since the end of the Korean War (1950-53) ― the fishermen were probably executed soon afterward, and the previous administration knew that would be the consequence, Tae claimed.
On Nov. 2, 2019, South Korea's Navy captured the men in their 20s in waters off the nation's east coast. After just three days of investigation, the South Korean government proposed sending them and their boat back to the North. Pyongyang accepted the offer the next day (Nov. 6). It was all completed in the two days that followed.
The National Security Office (NSO) at the time claimed that the decision was necessary as the two fishermen were "brutal criminals on the run," citing the investigation results that they conspired with a third man to kill the boat's "abusive" captain and 15 others at sea before arriving in the South's waters.
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| Rep. Tae Yong-ho of the ruling People Power Party / Newsis |
Some critics cast doubt on the claims that the two were able to kill that many people on the small boat. In another move that fostered such doubts, the National Intelligence Service asked health authorities to disinfect the boat ― the most critical evidence of their alleged crimes. The authorities said it was part of government measures to prevent the spread of the African swine fever virus. But former PPP lawmaker Kim Jin-tae said that such disinfection amounted to blatant destruction of evidence, which would be needed in the event of a trial.
Rep. An Byung-gil of the PPP said it was the only disinfection request made by the intelligence agency between June 2019 and December 2020 and that the claim that it was necessary to disinfect the vessel is not credible.
"Facts are emerging over the relations between the five-year Moon administration and the North Korean elite," An said in a statement.
Even if the fishermen's crimes are in fact true ― which cannot be determined without a fair trial ― the Constitution requires the government to treat North Korean defectors as citizens. Critics say there are no legal grounds for sending North Koreans to a place it de facto has no control over.
When the news broke out about the decision, human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International criticized the South Korean government, accusing it of violating international human rights treaties.
The story could have been kept a secret if a photographer had not captured the phone message sent by an Army officer to a senior official at the National Security Office.
Last week, President Yoon Suk-yeol suggested that his administration may reinvestigate the case, saying many people wondered what really happened.
