Brother of late fisheries official asks NK diplomatic missions to deliver letter to leader Kim

Published : Jul 9, 2021 - 10:10 Updated : Jul 9, 2021 - 10:10

Lee Rae-jin (L), the elder brother of a South Korean official killed by North Korean soldiers while drifting in the North Korean waters in the West Sea in late September, calls for President Moon Jae-in to keep his earlier promise to punish those responsible and look into the case immediately near the presidential office in Seoul on Thursday. On the right is Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the main opposition People Power Party. (Yonhap)

The brother of a South Korean fisheries official killed in North Korean waters said Friday he sent emails to the North's diplomatic missions in Hong Kong and Mongolia asking them to deliver his letter to leader Kim Jong-un.

The fisheries official was shot and killed by North Korea's military in September while adrift in waters north of the inter-Korean sea border in the Yellow Sea, a day after he went missing the previous day while on duty near the western border island of Yeonpyeong.

On Friday, his brother, Lee Rae-jin, said he sent emails a day earlier asking the North's consulate in Hong Kong and its embassy in Mongolia to deliver a letter asking the North Korean leader if the North possesses the remains of his brother, explain the details of the shooting and allow him to visit the site of the incident.

Lee said he has not received any replies yet from the two embassies.

"In February last year, I met with Unification Minister Lee In-young and had asked him to deliver my letter to Chairman Kim but when I checked with the ministry recently, I was told that the letter was not delivered as the inter-Korean communication channels remain severed," Lee said. (Yonhap)