Moon voices deep concern over probe into slain fisheries official

Former President Moon Jae-in on Thursday expressed deep concern over the prosecution’s ongoing investigation into the 2020 death of a South Korean fisheries official at the hands of North Korea, saying that a “matter of national security” should not be a “subject of political strife.”

“I express deep concern over making a matter of national security a subject of political strife and these senseless acts that incapacitate the national security system and stomp on the pride of public servants who have devoted themselves to protecting national security for a long time,” Moon said in a statement read by Rep. Youn Kun-young of the main opposition Democratic Party.

Moon said his administration reached a conclusion that the official was killed while attempting to defect to the North, based on all the intelligence and circumstantial evidence it could get at the time.

It is the first time that Moon has publicly expressed his official stance on the probe since the incumbent government overturned in June the preceding Moon government’s assessment that the official had tried to defect to the North.

Top security officials of the previous government, including former defense minister Suh Wook, have been questioned in connection with the case. On Tuesday prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon over the case.

Moon called on the incumbent government to provide another explanation of how the official ended up in North Korean waters if it seeks to overturn the previous conclusion.