INVESTIGATION ON OFFICIAL'S CROSSING

[Anchor Lead]

A public official who had gone missing on Yeonpeoyngdo Island back was shot to death by Korean soldiers last September. South Korea’s Coast Guard concluded at the time that the official tried to flee to North Korea because of his gambling debt. The Human Rights Commission rebutted the claim as false and in violation of human rights.

[Pkg]

A South Korean public official surnamed Lee went missing in the sea off Yeonpyeongdo Island and was later shot dead by North Korean soldiers. The Korea Coast Guard concluded that Lee attempted to flee to North Korea because of significant financial debt accumulated by gambling.

[Soundbite] Yoon Sung-hyun(Korea Coast Guard (Sept. 2020)) : "He had a debt amounting to 330 million won. Of that, the gambling debt is about 268 million won."

The Coast Guard said the official tried to flee to escape from the reality in a state of panic. His bereaved family filed a petition with the Human Rights Commission.

[Soundbite] Lee Rae-jin(Lee’s brother) : "Instead of focusing facts detailing on what happened to my brother, they reached a conclusion based on information gathered from his private life. It was outrageous."

The commission rebutted the results of the Coast Guard probe and said they violated the rights of the deceased and his family. It accused the Coast Guard of disclosing aspects of the official’s private life to the public without a legitimate reason. Moreover, the commission pointed out that the results of the investigation turned out to be false. There was a significant difference between the amount of the official’s debt disclosed by the Coast Guard and the actual amount. Figures for his gambling debt was exaggerated by more than twice the actual sum. Only one of the seven advisers at the time said the official might have been in a state of panic. But the Coast Guard cited that as the main reason behind his attempt to flee to North Korea. The Human Rights Commission is urging the chief of the Korea Coast Guard to reprimand the officials in charge of the investigation. The Coast Guard has not commented on the commission’s remarks.