CIO Raids Coast Guard Over Alleged Perjury in West Sea Official Shooting Case

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) has launched a compulsory investigation into Park Sang-chun, former head of the Jeju Coast Guard, who is suspected of perjury in connection with the fatal shooting of a South Korean government official in the West Sea.
The CIO's Investigation Division 4, led by Chief Prosecutor Cha Jeong-hyeon, sent investigators to the Korea Coast Guard headquarters and the Incheon Coast Guard station today (July 16) to conduct searches and seizures.
The items subject to the search reportedly include Park's mobile phone, work logs, emails, and messenger records.
Park was previously reported for alleged perjury during his testimony before the National Assembly's Special Committee on Truth-Finding regarding the Alleged Fabricated Prosecution by the Yoon Suk Yeol Administration.
Regarding the case of Lee Dae-jun, an official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries who was shot and killed by North Korean troops in the West Sea in September 2020, the Coast Guard initially announced that he was "judged to have defected to North Korea." However, in June 2022, after the inauguration of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, the agency reversed its investigation results, stating that "no evidence of an intent to defect was found."
At the time of the reversal, Park was serving as the head of the Incheon Coast Guard and was in charge of the official briefing.
Yoon Sung-hyun, former head of the Coast Guard's Investigation and Intelligence Bureau, who led the initial investigation, has claimed through parliamentary audits and other channels that Park confided in him the day before the briefing, saying, "I have no intention of doing this in the form of a briefing, but the Commissioner ordered it. I have never conducted an investigation before and don't know the first thing about it, but I have no choice under the current circumstances."
During the special committee hearing in April, Park denied allegations of "higher-level intervention" in the reversal of the investigation results, stating that he had "no recollection" of the remarks claimed by the former bureau chief.
The fatal shooting of the official in the West Sea occurred on September 21, 2020, when Lee Dae-jun, an employee of the West Sea Fisheries Guidance Office under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, went missing in waters south of So-yeonpyeong Island, Ongjin-gun, Incheon, and was killed by North Korean gunfire in North Korean waters the following day.
(Photo: Provided by CIO, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.