South Korea arrests former national security director

Judge Kim Jeong-min of the Seoul Central District Court on December 3 approved the request to arrest Mr. Suh Hoon, former South Korean national security director, made by prosecutors.

Prosecutors are concerned that Mr. Suh Hoon will try to destroy evidence for the investigation into accusations that officials in the administration of former President Moon Jae-in hid information about the case of Lee Dae-jun, a fisheries official,

Mr. Lee went missing on September 21, 2020 while on duty near Yeonpyeong Island at the maritime boundary between the two countries.

Mr. Suh Hoon during a meeting on inter-Korean relations in 2018 in Seoul.

Investigators suspect Mr. Suh Hoon took advantage of a cabinet meeting to direct the destruction of intelligence documents related to Lee’s death.

Suh Hoon is also suspected of directing the South Korean Ministry of National Defense, the National Intelligence Agency and the coast guard to spread information that Lee had tried to defect to North Korea.

In October, South Korean police urgently arrested former defense minister Suh Wook and former coast guard commander Kim Hong-hee in connection with the investigation into the death of Lee Dae-jun.

The case was promoted by the prosecution after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol took office.

The Korean Board of Audit and Inspection, under the Office of the President, said in October that President Moon’s administration had no substantive measures to rescue Lee Dae-jun after receiving reports that this person had recently disappeared.

Former South Korean national security director Suh Hoon appeared at the Seoul Central District Court on December 2.

After all parties confirmed that North Korean border guards opened fire, killing Lee Dae-jun, Moon Jae-in administration officials made the assertion that Lee sought to defect to North Korea because of debts from gambling and conflicts.

However, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s Office accused the previous administration of suppressing some evidence that Lee Dae-jun had no reasonable motive to defect.

The prosecution said that former defense minister Suh Wook was instructed to destroy 60 military intelligence reports related to the shooting, and also delayed issuing a statement about Lee Dae-jun’s death.

The Democratic Party office of former president Moon Jae-in criticized the decision to arrest Mr. Suh Hoon as unfounded because `all investigation documents are in the hands of the current government`.

This party reaffirmed that the Moon administration’s conclusion in the Lee Dae-jun case was consistent with the assessment of the situation and information available at that time, and accused the Yoon administration’s investigation of carrying out the investigation.