Family calls for UN probe into North Korea's killing of South Korean official

Lee Rae-jin, center, the elder brother of the South Korean official who was shot dead by North Korean troops after floating into the North's territorial waters late last month, holds a letter requesting the United Nations investigate the case, before delivering it to the United Nations Human Rights Office in Seoul, Tuesday. Rep. Ha Tae-keung, right, and Rep. Tae Yong-ho of the main opposition People Power Party accompanied Lee. Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

The family of a South Korean official who was shot dead by North Korean troops last month has asked the United Nations to look into the controversial incident.

Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of the slain maritime official, delivered a written request for the probe to Tomas Ojea Quintana, a U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in North Korea, at the U.N. Human Rights Office in Seoul Tuesday. Lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) ― Reps. Tae Yong-ho and Ha Tae-keung ― accompanied Lee.

The request comes as the South and the North gave different accounts detailing why the official floated into the North's waters and the circumstances of his killing. The family has also claimed the South Korean government was attempting to distort the truth by claiming the victim was trying to defect to the North, saying there was no reason for him to defect and leave his family, including his young children.

"I, Lee Rae-jin, would like to inform the international community about the brutal murder of my younger brother Lee Dae-jun, an unarmed civilian, by North Korean troops," read the request, according to the elder brother. "I would like to request a fair and objective investigation."

Quintana, representing the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), received the letter. Late last month, Quintana called on the North Korean authorities to reveal all relevant information and to compensate the family of the victim.

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"I am delivering this letter of request for the U.N. investigation to the OHCHR's Seoul office, as Quintana said the OHCHR needs to receive an official request from the bereaved family members of the victim to launch an investigation into the case," Lee Rae-jin told The Korea Times.

Lee and the lawmakers said the family might file a lawsuit against the North Korean regime like that filed by the family of Otto Warmbier, a U.S. student who died after he was returned home in a coma after 17 months of detention in the North.

Rep. Ha said he would thoroughly investigate to prove that the government neglected its constitutional duty to protect its people.

"The government violated its obligation required by the Constitution to protect the people. The government's search operations for the oceans and fisheries ministry official were carried out in a poor way," Ha wrote on Facebook. "The government should have notified the North about the missing South Korean government official off the western coast near the Northern Limit Line to ask for the North's cooperation. But no such measures were taken at the time according to the defense ministry and the Coast Guard."

Along with the letter of request for the U.N. probe, the opposition lawmakers and the brother also revealed a letter written by the victim's son to President Moon Jae-in.

The 18-year-old son, who is living with his mother and an eight-year-old sister, said his father had no reason to defect to the North and the government failed to protect one of its citizens.

"I'd like to ask why my father had to go that far, what efforts the state was making to save my father and why it could not save him," he wrote. "He was a public servant of the Republic of Korea and a citizen who should be protected. He suffered in the cold waters for a long time and was killed and burned … I want to ask who is responsible for this situation where we can't even find his body, and what the state was doing when my father was killed brutally."

Regarding the letter, President Moon said he sympathizes with the teenager who lost his father and would like to send a message of comfort, according to presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok.

"The President said we need to wait for the results of the investigation and search operations by the Coast Guard," Kang said. "President Moon is also planning to write back to him."

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