REPATRIATION DISPUTE CONTINUES

[Anchor Lead]

The hottest issue in politics in recent days is the repatriation of North Korean fishermen. The ruling People Power Party called for investigating government ministries and special prosecution, while the opposition Democratic Party claimed it was a ploy to use national security to divert attention from the president's falling approval rates.

[Pkg]

The People Power Party announced that it would push for an investigation of government ministries and special prosecution to look into the forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen. The ruling bloc emphasized that South Korea must make sure the fishermen were brutal criminals and their intention to defect was not misconstrued.

[Soundbite] Kweon Seong-dong(Acting chair, PPP) : "The Moon administration ignored the law and decided to send them back as if they read minds, doubting the sincerity of their defection. They handled human rights and legal issues arbitrarily."

The acting PPP leader said the repatriation notice and a presidential letter asking North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to visit South Korea were delivered on the same day, speculating on the causality between the two events.

[Soundbite] Ha Tae-keung(People Power Party(CBS Radio)) : "They were gifts for Kim Jong-un's visit. The biggest trouble in N. Korea is defectors."

The Democratic Party criticized the ruling bloc's push for a probe into ministries and launch of special prosecution as "security marketing." The main opposition claimed that the PPP is trying to turn the situation around with a North Korean issue as the president's approval rating plummeted.

[Soundbite] Woo Sang-ho(Chair, DP Emergency Committee) : "There are unusable cards even when you're in trouble. I believe the people will judge the PPP over how it's using inter-Korean issues as political scheming cards."

He asked the PPP why they remained silent at the time and added that the intel committee chair belonging to the PPP also had found the repatriation reasonable.

[Soundbite] Lee Hye-hoon(Then-Chair of Nat'l Assembly's Intelligence Committee(Nov. 2019)) : "I thought it would be horrible if such people were not punished and processed as defectors to end up among the people."

Meanwhile, the justice and unification ministries said the laws that once supported the repatriation cannot be used as grounds for their deportation. The decision was overturned as a new administration came into power, demonstrating the need to make more permanent institutional changes given the special nature of inter-Korean relations.