The article was originally published by Chosun Ilbo and translated by OKN Correspondent.
Kwon, the spouse of Dae-jun Lee, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who was shot by North Korean soldiers in September 2020, criticized South Korea’s Democratic Party.
“When the incident occurred, I already felt that the government was on the side of North Korea rather than a South Korean citizen.” Her criticism came after lawmakers of the Democratic Party defined the government’s final investigation result on Lee’s supposed defection to North Korea on the 20th as a “color theory.”
“They are people with no conscience,” Kwon said. She expressed disappointment with the Moon Jae-in administration, saying, “while the government investigated the Sewol ferry accident nine times, it did not investigate my husband’s case properly even once.”
“Lives are equally precious. How can you say something so selectively?” Kwon said in a phone call with Chosun Media this afternoon.
Sang-ho Woo, interim President of the Democratic Party, described the government announcement as a “new color theory” to create a pro-North Korean image for the Moon administration. Additionally, Democratic Party Assemblyman Hoon Seol said, “it (the incident) is nothing.” Even now, secondary assaults against the Lee family continue on social media and pro-Democratic Party communities.
In response to President Woo’s comments that “people’s livelihood is more important (than the investigation into this case),” Kwon responded, “people’s livelihood is, of course, important, but is there any country without its people? A country only exists when it has its people. Without the people, there are even no livelihood issues.”
In a handwritten letter sent to President Woo on the 20th, Kwon’s son Lee, who is 19 years old, said, “do you know what it is like to have the excruciating pain of a family who lost their husband and father in one morning?” He also wrote that South Korean people would judge if secondary assaults (towards the family) continue.
Regarding this, Kwon said, “after the government announced that my husband did not defect to North Korea, my son said that he would not get involved in this issue anymore but leave it to me now. However, he was outraged about Woo’s comments and could not do anything but express his feelings in the letter.” Her son, Lee, is preparing to become a civil servant.
Kwon mentioned the 2014 Sewol ferry accident and said, “it was deplorable for a mom raising children at the same age.” However, she criticized the Moon Jae-in administration, saying, “while the government investigated the Sewol ferry accident nine times, it did not even properly investigate my husband’s incident one time.”
“My husband’s life is equally precious, and it was an incident caused by a hostile country called North Korea,” Kwon indirectly expressed disappointment. Thereby, she pointed out that former President Moon Jae-in acted selectively in the face of a citizen’s death.
Kwon said, “we will find the truth through legal proceedings. We will also take steps to restore my husband’s honor as the government has determined that he did not attempt to defect to North Korea.”
As Dae-jun Lee’s status changed from ‘disappeared’ to ‘dead,’ Kwon would apply for line-of-duty death through meetings with the minister of Oceans and Fisheries.
Regarding the military’s special intelligence (SI), which will be the key to unraveling the facts of the case, she said, “the Democratic Party did not hear the entire surveillance recording of that time but just saw the records, so I cannot believe it.”
“In the presence of the personnel in charge, they should let us hear it. If that does not happen, nothing can be resolved,” Kwon added.
