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| ▲ Former Defense Minister Suh Wook (Yonhap) |
prosecution-ex-minister
Ex-Defense Minister Suh Wook questioned over slain fisheries official case
By Kim Han-joo
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors questioned former Defense Minister Suh Wook from the previous administration Thursday as part of their investigation into the 2020 death of a South Korean fisheries official at the hands of North Korea.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is looking into allegations the Moon Jae-in administration concluded without sufficient evidence that the official was killed while attempting to defect to the North.
Critics have accused the Moon administration of drawing the conclusion to curry favor with Pyongyang.
It marks the first time for the prosecution to question a high-ranking official from the Moon government.
Prosecutors suspect that confidential documents from the defense ministry and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) were deleted following the official's death.
The investigation also centers on allegations that Park Jie-won, a former head of the NIS, and his predecessor, Suh Hoon, destroyed intelligence documents.
Prosecutors are expected to summon the two former NIS chiefs sometime soon for questioning.
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.
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