“I was already wearing eyepatch on the pavement line when the police commandos arrived” Police Testimony
Tae Young-ho “There must be video footage of the repatriation scene… it should be released”
At the time of repatriation of North Korean fishermen to North Korea in November 2019, a photo was released of fishermen wearing eyepatch and tied to a leash and being dragged to the Military Demarcation Line by police special forces. It has been argued that it is not
Representative Tae Young-ho’s office, a member of the National Security Disruption Task Force (TF), said on the 15th that he had confirmed this fact through the testimony of a high-ranking police official.
According to Rep. Tae, at the time of repatriation to North Korea, the Police Special Forces affiliated with the National Police Agency’s Security Bureau’s Counterterrorism Division received a call from the relevant authorities to ‘depart to Seoul somewhere’.
The police commando team dispatched eight commandos without equipment such as firearms, straps, and eye patches.
When the commandos arrived at the place mentioned by the relevant authorities, it was testified that two North Korean fishermen were already tied with a lanyard and wearing an eye patch.
In a telephone conversation with Yonhap News Agency, Rep. Tae’s office said, “The ‘relevant institution’ the police are talking regarding may be the Moon Jae-in administration’s Blue House National Security Office or the National Intelligence Service.” .
The Ministry of Unification explained the background to the fact that the police special forces were in charge of escorting North Korean fishermen to Panmunjom on the same day, saying, “At the time, the procedure for repatriation was decided in consultations with related ministries led by the National Security Office.”
When combined with the testimony of the police and the explanation of the Ministry of Unification, the question of whether the National Security Office was the one who took the measures to tie the North Korean fisherman to a rope and put an eye patch is also being raised in passports.
In addition, Rep. Tae held a debate at the National Assembly on the morning of the same day for ‘legal consideration of the North Korean defector’s forced repatriation case and preparation of measures to prevent recurrence’ and argued that video data from the scene of repatriation was necessary to find out the truth of the case.
Rep. Tae said, “Reviewing the recently released photo materials, we found soldiers taking pictures.
There is a very high possibility that video data exists.” He said, “At that time, we plan to request the video data from the Ministry of National Defense, the National Police Agency, and the United Nations Command, and we will arrange a meeting with the commander of the UN forces and the commander of the USFK.”
In the midst of this, the People’s Power held the second meeting of the National Security Disorder Investigation Task Force at the National Assembly on the followingnoon of the same day.
At the meeting, Rep. Han Ki-ho, a member of the TF, argued at the meeting, “After checking with multiple officials, the Moon Jae-in administration has requested the UNC several times to support the forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen to North Korea to avoid responsibility.”
Assemblyman Han said, “The UN Command decided that it was unreasonable for the security battalion to intervene in the repatriation of civilians to the North, so it clearly expressed its refusal to do so.” confirmed,” he said.
“The Moon Jae-in administration also requested transfer to the North Korea Policy Division of the Ministry of National Defense during the UNC request process.
It is very unusual for the Ministry of National Defense to be involved in the transfer of North Koreans,” he said.
Rep. Han also said, “The Moon Jae-in administration brought the North Korean people out of the house without removing the eyepatch and rope until the last moment they came out of the House of Freedom, just before repatriation. It is confirmed that they were trying to hide the fact that they were forced to repatriate to North Korea once morest their will,” he said.
“We will closely look into the instructions given by the Blue House from the time the North Koreans were captured and forcibly repatriated,” said a lawmaker.
/yunhap news
