Official killed by N. Korea sought to defect, S. Korea says

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said Tuesday that a government official slain by North Korean sailors wanted to defect, concluding that the man, who had gambling debts, swam against unfavorable currents with the help of a life jacket and a flotation device and conveyed his intention of resettling in North Korea.

It’s unclear whether the announcement will soothe mounting questions about the man’s death last week. The official’s brother dismissed the assessment as “fiction,” accusing the government of framing his brother with an ungrounded defection attempt after failing to rescue him.

Senior coast guard officer Yoon Seong-hyun said at a televised briefing Tuesday that there was a “very low possibility” that the man could have fallen from a ship or tried to kill himself because he was putting on a life jacket when he was found in North Korean waters.

Yoon said tidal currents at the time would also make it difficult for him to drift into North Korean waters naturally.

Coast guard officials have previously said the 47-yearold official was a father of two with some debts. Yoon said the debts totaled about $282,000, 80% of which were from gambling.

The official had been aboard a government inspection ship before he disappeared on Sept. 21 and was killed by North Korean troops the next day.

The coast guard said its assessment was based on an analysis of tidal currents in the area, a visit to a government boat that the official had been aboard before his disappearance, investigation of his financial transactions and a meeting with South Korean Defense Ministry officials.

The man’s elder brother, Lee Rae-jin, told reporters later Tuesday that his brother was proud of his job as a public servant and never told him about a desire to defect.

“The government is hastily framing my brother with a North Korea defection,” Lee said.

Lee said he “desperately” wants to retrieve his brother’s body and asked for cooperation from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Still, he said, “I’d like to ask Kim Jong Un why he killed my brother.”

Lee has said his brother likely fell into the sea by accident.

A South Korean defecting to North Korea is unusual, though more than 33,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea for political and economic reasons in the past 20 years.

South Korea has accused North Korea of fatally shooting him and burning his body. North Korea acknowledged that its troops killed him because he refused to answer questions and attempted to flee.