hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung while attending an Oct. 1 ceremony at the main parade ground at Gyeryongdae, South Chungcheong Province, to commemorate the 74th Armed Forces Day holiday. (Yonhap)

The announcement that the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) plans to question former South Korean President Moon Jae-in in writing in relation to the 2020 shooting death of a government employee by North Korean soldiers in the West Sea has observers suggesting that current President Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration is ramping up its investigation into its predecessor’s activities.

Some analysts said Yoon may have resorted to this approach in an attempt to reverse the plunge in his approval ratings in the wake of a furor over vulgar remarks he made during an overseas tour, which he returned from more or less empty-handed, diplomatically speaking.

The presidential office did not offer any comments on the matter Monday.

“There is no official position to share,” a key official with the presidential office told the Hankyoreh.

“The Board of Audit and Inspection is an institution whose independence is guaranteed by the Constitution. It would be highly inappropriate for the presidential office to state a position on an audit that is being conducted by an institution whose independence is guaranteed,” they added.

Responding to a vehement outcry from the opposition Democratic Party, which has referred to the situation as “political retaliation” against the previous administration, the presidential office said that it was “only natural” that the BAI would confirm details with Moon as the top decision-maker at the time of the incident before concluding its audit on Oct. 13.

But some analysts suggested the investigation of the Moon administration was only a matter of time. During his election campaign, Yoon expressed strong hostility toward the Moon administration and made numerous remarks about “clearing away deep-rooted vices.”

In a February interview with the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, then-candidate Yoon was asked whether he planned to investigate “vices” under the preceding administration if elected, as the Moon administration had done early in its term.

“You have to,” he replied.

“But that’s not something for the president to be involved in. It has to be based on the system,” he added.

“It’s about the people in the Moon Jae-in administration who committed illegal and corrupt activities receiving their due punishment according to the law and the system. It’s not about anyone ‘retaliating’ against anyone else,” he also said.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) began making an issue of the West Sea shooting almost as soon as the Yoon administration took office.

In June, the Korea Coast Guard (KCG) and Ministry of National Defense (MND) said they found “no evidence that the government employee who was killed intended to defect to North Korea,” contradicting the Moon administration’s explanation that the employee was shot during what was believed to be an attempt to defect.

The Office of National Security in the presidential office reversed the previous administration’s position by dropping an appeal in a case requesting the disclosure of information related to the West Sea shooting death. In November 2021, the Moon administration submitted an appeal after a court sided with the plaintiffs in a case filed by the shooting victim’s family members against the Blue House and KCG to request the disclosure of related information.

Commenting on the case as a presidential candidate in January, Yoon said he would “restore the dignity of the victim who was killed by North Korea.” The controversy was reignited when the PPP went on to create a task force, and the BAI followed suit in July when it launched an audit of the case.

The BAI requested that Moon provide written responses to its questions in late September — a timeline that happens to coincide with a period when Yoon found himself on the defensive over the vulgarity furor and lack of tangible results during his overseas tour the week before. This suggests that after finding himself in a difficult situation, Yoon resorted to going after Moon.

“This may be the ruling party’s attempt to turn things around at a time when they’ve been losing their grip on governance and showing signs of internal turmoil,” Insight K president Bae Jong-chan told the Hankyoreh.

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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