Former President Moon Jae-in, front right, walks with Lee Jae-myung, front left, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, at Moon's home in Yangsan in South Gyeongsang Province, in this Aug. 29 file photo. Moon said the state audit institution's recent attempt to question him over a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korea in 2020 is "very rude." Newsis

Ex-president rejects inquiry over fisheries official's death

By Jung Min-ho

Former President Moon Jae-in said the state audit agency's recent attempt to question him over a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korea in 2020 is "very rude," according to Rep. Youn Kun-young, his former aide.

The lawmaker of the main opposition liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) told reporters at the National Assembly, Monday, that Moon said it was "very rude" and improper for the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) to call him and send him an official email regarding the case.

After receiving the email on Sept. 28, the office of Moon's secretary told the institution two days later that he will not answer any of its questions.

The 47-year-old fisheries official, who was unarmed, was killed in September 2020 by the North Korean military while adrift in the North's territorial waters and his body was incinerated afterwards. It was initially concluded that he was killed during his attempt to defect to the North. But the story took a drastic turn as the military and police, under the Yoon Suk-yeol government, said there was not sufficient evidence that he was intentionally trying to cross the border. Over the past few months, the prosecution has been looking into who was involved in drawing that conclusion.

"The BAI appears to try to curry favor with the people in power despite its duty to maintain political neutrality. We should find the whole truth behind this," Youn said.

More than 10 lawmakers, who worked for the previous administration, appeared at the press conference where they vowed to fight against what they described as "political retaliation" by the Yoon administration.