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| A North Korean fisherman, who was captured near the eastern inter-Korean sea border, resists as he is handed over to North Korean authorities in the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom in Nov., 2019. Yonhap |
Just before South Korea repatriated two North Korean fishermen in 2019, the justice ministry reviewed its legality and found no legal grounds to send them back to North Korea, the ministry said Wednesday.
The revelation is expected to further fuel criticism that the previous administration of President Moon Jae-in deported the North Koreans even though it knew there was no legal ground to do so after they expressed a desire to defect to South Korea.
The Moon government said at the time that it decided to repatriate the North Koreans because they had admitted to killing 16 fellow crew members and their expression of a desire to defect to the South was deemed insincere.
"Around noon on Nov. 7, 2019, the justice ministry was asked by Cheong Wa Dae to conduct a legality review in connection with the repatriation of the North Korean fishermen," the ministry said of the then presidential office.
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