Moon officials indicted for forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen

North Korean fisherman being forced back to North Korea by South Korean special police at Panmunjeom on November 2019, [MINISTRY OF UNIFICATION]

Top secretaries of President Moon Jae-in, including his head of national intelligence, were indicted Tuesday on charges connected to the forced repatriation of two would-be North Korean defectors in 2019.

Seoul Central District Court said it indicted former National Security Director and later Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Suh Hoon, and Moon’s Chief of Staff Noh Young-min, as well as former Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul, on abusing their authority under the National Intelligence Service Act.

An official from the prosecutors’ office told reporters Tuesday that they consider Moon’s top national security chief Chung to be the top person responsible, but that calling NIS chief Suh to account was equally as important.

Noh is also believed to have played a vital role in the repatriation, including holding a meeting with government officials on Nov. 4, several days before the two North Koreans were forced back to the North.

Neither the NIS chief nor any intelligence agency officials attended the Nov. 4 meeting.

Chung accused the prosecutors of conducting a political investigation of retribution.

“The biased, inconsistent indictment proves that the investigation itself is political,” the former Blue House officials claimed through a statement released Tuesday.

“The position that the South Korean constitution takes is that North Korea is an anti-state organization but also a dialogue partner, and therefore a North Korea resident is not only a South Korean citizen, but also a North Korean citizen, a status that equals a foreigner.”

They added that the prosecutors’ argument claiming that the repatriation of “vicious criminals” violates the constitution only looks at one side of the constitution.

The accused and the Democratic Party have repeatedly cited Article 9 of the North Korean Defectors’ Act, which stipulates that escapees “who commit murder and other non-political crimes may be exclude from protection.”

The former top officials are accused of forcing two North Korean fishermen back to North Korea despite their expressed intention to defect.

The two men were picked up by the South Korean navy on Nov. 2, 2019 around Samcheok, Gangnwon.

However, they were sent back just five days later.

The Moon government did not disclose the repatriation until a text message from a Joint Security Area officer sent to a Blue House official reporting the return of the two North Koreans appeared in a reporter’s photo during a National Assembly Budget and Accounts Committee hearing on Nov. 7.

The Moon government claimed at the time that the two were suspected of killing 16 fellow crewmembers and were wanted by the North Korean authorities for non-political crimes.

However, prosecutors say the Moon administration officials misused their authority by tasking civil servants in departments related to the case with things beyond their scope of duties to forcibly repatriate the pair.

They also accuse the officials of ignoring the two North Koreans' constitutional right to a trial in accordance with South Korean laws and legal procedures.

Prosecutors also argued that binding the hands of the two North Koreans with cable was illegal.

South Korea's constitution recognizes even North Koreans as South Korean citizens.

The officials face other charges as well, including writing false reports and prematurely terminating investigations.

This included the former NIS chief erasing material with the North Koreans expressing their intention to defect.

The Moon government claimed that the two men wanted to return to North Korea, saying that even if they died, they wanted to die in their homeland.

While the Korean Red Cross is usually entrusted with repatriating North Koreans who wish to return voluntarily, the two fishermen were escorted by a special police unit.

A video that was later disclosed shows one of the fishermen being forcibly dragged across the border at the DMZ "truce village" of Panmunjeom.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]