South Korea arrests former top officials over 2020 killing

South Korean former defense minister and coast guard chief have been arrested over their alleged involvement in covering up facts relating to North Korea’s killing of a South Korean fisheries official in 2020 near the rivals’ tense sea border.

On Saturday, the Seoul Central District Court issued warrants against ex-defense minister Suh Wook and former coast guard chief General Kim Hong-hee, citing risks of the suspects fleeing or destroying evidence.

Both face charges including abuse of power, forging official documents and dereliction of duty, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

According to the latest document from the parliamentary investigation, fisheries official Lee Dae-jun was kept in water for nearly six hours as he drifted in and out of consciousness after being found by North Koreans.

The investigation further stated that the coast guard and navy violated rules during their initial rescue efforts and made no meaningful attempts to rescue the 47-year-old official even after knowing that he was drifting in waters near the North Korean border.

After it was confirmed that Lee had been killed by North Korea, officials in the previous administration of president Moon Jae-in publicly played up the possibility that he had tried to defect to North Korea.

He cited his family problems and gambling debts as the cause of his defect, while withholding evidence suggesting he had no such intention, the agency said.

But Lee's brother has repeatedly rejected the idea, saying Lee would have never defected.

The incident had occurred at a time when Moon faced political pressure to renew diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.

The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had offered a rare apology over the killing at the time. In a formal letter sent to Seoul, North Korea conveyed Kim’s message that he felt “very sorry” for “disappointing” South Korea’s then-President Moon.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is seeking an inquiry into the highly politicized case following accusations that his predecessor mishandled the probe to curry favor with North Korea.

It was revealed in an inquiry by Seoul's Board of Audit and Inspection last week that Suh followed orders from Moon's office to remove around 60 military intelligence reports related to the case, among other alleged offences.

However, the country’s opposition claims the investigation is "political revenge" against Moon's administration. On Saturday, they called the arrests a "manipulation of the truth."

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