 |
| The Coast Guard reached the conclusion based on the intelligence retrieved from the military, the analysis of the tidal current on the day of the incident and other circumstantial evidence. (File photo by=Reuters) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] Korea’s Coast Guard said Tuesday that the South Korean fisheries official shot to death by the North Korean military at sea last week was trying to defect to the North. The Coast Guard reached the conclusion based on the intelligence retrieved from the military, the analysis of the tidal current on the day of the incident and other circumstantial evidence.
"The official was wearing a life jacket and hanging on a floating object when he was spotted by the North," said Yoon Seong-hyun, chief of the investigation team, during a briefing to announce its midway investigation results. "Also North Korea knew the official's personal details, such as his name, age, hometown and height." Yoon said an accident or a suicide was considered very unlikely, although the investigation team did not rule out such scenarios.
The team concluded that a pair of slippers found on the deck of the government ship monitoring fishing boats belonged to the 47-year-old official, which were sent to the National Forensic Service for more analysis. Yoon said the team also analyzed the ship's closed circuit TV footage, 731 clips in total, but couldn’t find any important information about the man."Based on the investigation so far, we believe that he intended to defect to the North," Yoon said.
