Seoul: In the course of looking into two earlier North Korea-related incidents that drew criticism that the previous liberal government ignored fundamental human rights principles in order to improve relations with Pyongyang, South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday conducted a raid on the nation's top spy agency.
Yoon Suk Yeol, the new conservative president who took office in May, has accused his liberal predecessor Moon Jae-in of being "submissive" to North Korea and has taken steps to allay long-standing concerns about the way the two cases were handled.
His campaign has drawn criticism from liberals, who charge that he is retaliating politically against his opponents. Following the filing of charges against two of its former directors who had worked for Moon, the National Intelligence Service, which is now a part of Yoon's administration, a raid was conducted on Wednesday.
They were charged with abuse of authority, tampering with public records, and falsifying paperwork. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office stated without going into further detail that prosecutors and other investigators searched the NIS main headquarters close to Seoul, including documents, computer files, and other materials related to the two cases.
In 2020, a South Korean fisheries official was fatally shot by North Korea close to their shared western maritime border. In 2019, South Korea deported two North Korean fishermen despite their requests to settle there.
The slain official was reportedly burdened with gambling debts and dealing with family issues when he swam to North Korea, according to the Moon's government.
The official version, according to conservative critics was intended to lessen potential public sympathy for him and prevent anti-North Korean sentiments in South Korea. In defiance of the Moon administration's assessment. Yoon's government declared last month that there was no proof that the official had attempted to flee to North Korea.
The second incident involved the Moon administration's decision to expel two North Korean fishermen just days after they were apprehended aboard their vessel off the east coast of South Korea.
The Moon administration referred to them as "heinous criminals" who killed 16 other crew members and didn't deserve to be treated as refugees, citing secret intelligence.
Conservatives and proponents of human rights, however, believed the Moon administration had likely hastily expelled the fishermen once they learned North Korean authorities were after them.
They claimed that rather than sending the fishermen back to a country where they would be subject to torture or execution, the previous administration should have sent them through the South Korean legal system.
