 |
Lee Rae-jin (C), the brother of a South Korean fisheries official who was killed by North Korean soldiers after drifting across the inter-Korean sea border in September 2020, speaks to reporters in Seoul after a court hearing on Friday. (Yonhap) |
Cheong Wa Dae's National Security Office (NSO) and the Coast Guard were ordered Friday to provide undisclosed information in connection to North Korea's killing of a South Korean fisheries official near the inter-Korean sea border in September last year to his family.
The Seoul Administrative Court made the ruling in an information disclosure suit launched by the family of the then 47-year-old official, who was fatally shot and then set on fire by North Korean soldiers while on duty near the western border island of Yeongpyeong in September of last year.
The litigation was filed against the heads of the NSO, the Coast Guard and the defense ministry after the government decided not to provide their records to the family citing confidentiality in October of last year.
In Friday's ruling, the NSO was ordered to provide plaintiff Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of the official, access to its records with some exceptions, and the Coast Guard too was ordered to provide its records without revealing personal information.
The court, however, rejected Lee's request on the disclosure of the defense ministry's audio file of a wiretapped conversation among North Korean troops.
In a press conference after the hearing, Lee told reporters that he found the ruling "pitiful" despite part of it resulting in his favor. Lee argued that the government did not fulfill its duty while his brother went missing and was killed by North Korean soldiers.
Lee's lawyer said he will review the court's decision and decide whether to appeal. (Yonhap)
