This article was originally published on Chosun Ilbo and translated by OKN Correspondent.
It was reported on the 19th that the Moon Jae-in administration sent back a North Korean ship the next day after crossing the West Sea’s Northern Limit Line (NLL) and arriving in the South without conducting a joint investigation.
Seven people, including six soldiers, were on board, and the South Korean Navy fired warning shots at the North Korean patrol boat that chased the ship. However, the Moon administration immediately repatriated the ship without a proper investigation. This ship crossed the NLL on March 8, 2022, one day before the 20th presidential election, and was repatriated on March 9, the election day. A military official said, “Since the South Korean military was founded, it would be the first time to send back a North Korean ship with North Korean soldiers on board that we fired warning shots at and even seized.”
Han Ki-ho, an Assemblyman from the People Power Party and head of his party’s National Security Shortcomings Task Force, received information from a government official on this matter. According to the report, the South Korean military seized a North Korean ship that crossed the NLL from the coastal waters of the West Sea’s Baengnyeong Island on March 8. A North Korean patrol boat also trespassed on the NLL in chasing the ship, and the South Korean navy’s high-speed ship fired three warning shots with a 40mm naval gun. Six men in military uniform and one in plain clothes were on board. However, according to a lawmaker, the Moon Jae-in administration just conducted an informal on-site investigation at Baengnyeong Island and sent them back. It has been confirmed that all passengers were soldiers.
A military official said, “In this case, all departments such as the military and the National Intelligence Service would do a joint investigation.” However, the Moon administration seems not to have closely examined possible espionage suspects. Instead, it returned the North Korean ship after hearing the one-sided statement of the soldiers on board who said that the ship was to transport some stuff for a moving soldier.
An official from a lawmaker’s office said, “At the time, the National Intelligence Service and other relevant departments planned a joint investigation. However, it did not work out since the Ministry of National Defense Bureau of North Korean Affairs ordered immediate repatriation to the Marines in charge of Baengnyeong Island.” According to the official, it is the first time that a case involving a North Korean patrol boat ended in an informal investigation.
The North Korean patrol boat trespassed on the NLL for about seven minutes, and it was the first time a North Korean patrol boat trespassed after the inter-Korean military agreement on September 19, 2018. A military official said, “The Moon administration did not seem to put much significance to the North Korean boat trespassing the NLL, which was a violation of the military agreement. The inter-Korean military agreement was one of the Moon administration’s key policies.”
The United Nations Command at the time also informed the South Korean military to participate in the investigation, but the repatriation took place in great haste even before the investigation personnel arrived. Lawmaker Han said, “A North Korean ship with North Korean soldiers on board crossed the NLL, and the South Korean navy even fired warning shots at the patrol boat chasing the ship. However, the government sent the North Korean soldiers who crossed the NLL back to North Korea without any investigation by the National Intelligence Service. There was no sufficient investigation into the matter, such as on espionage suspects.”
Previously, the Blue House National Security Office created a “Correspondence Manual for Discovery of North Korean Ships and Personnel” in September 2019, which says “to evict or repatriate to the local area when a North Korean vessel is found to have simply entered.” A lawmaker’s office said that the National Security Office seems to have led the case after South Korea towed the ship to the port of Baengnyeong Island since the ship could not be evicted.
The central joint investigation, including the National Intelligence Service, failed due to the unilateral order by the Defense Ministry’s North Korean Affairs Bureau. A lawmaker said, “At the time, the Defense Ministry’s North Korean Affairs Bureau received a direct order from the National Security Office, according to the manual.” The lawmaker indicated that the repatriation of the North Korean ship that crossed the NLL day before the presidential election was carried out hastily in just one day due to the order of the Blue House.
A military official at the time said about the trespassing case at Baengnyeong Island, “The entire crew on board had no intention to defect. Instead, they strongly hoped for a return to North Korea and refused any kind of meal until the repatriation,” meaning that the military’s self-investigation and the following repatriation measure were appropriate. The military also said, “When repatriating, we did not only take their intention to defect into account, but relevant departments carried out a joint investigation thoroughly according to the manual and procedures.”
A lawmaker said, “One can guess that the government forced the repatriation of the soldiers who crossed the NLL without a thorough investigation.” Earlier, on July 27, 2019, the Moon Jae-in administration repatriated three civilians from North Korea who crossed the NLL in a small wooden boat.
