Son of Civil Servant Killed in West Sea Shooting Incident Withdraws Damages Suit Against Coast Guard

[Financial News] The son of the late Daejun Lee, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official who was killed by North Korean troops in the West Sea in 2020, has withdrawn the damages lawsuit he filed against the Korea Coast Guard (KCG), five years after bringing the case.
According to the legal community on the 30th, Lee's son submitted a notice of withdrawal on the 13th to Judge Lim Bok-gyu of the Seoul Central District Court's Civil Division 1005, who is hearing the damages case he filed against former KCG Commissioner Kim Hong-hee and others.
Lee's son filed the lawsuit in July 2017, demanding an apology from the KCG after the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) ruled that the agency's investigative announcement amounted to a human rights violation. At the time, the NHRCK said the KCG's disclosure of private information, including Lee's debt situation, infringed on the bereaved family's personal rights and honor, and recommended a warning against two officials, including the head of the investigation information bureau.
The amount Lee's son sought from the former commissioner and the two officials was 20,209,220 won. It was intended to symbolize the date of Lee's death, Sept. 22, 2020.
At the time, his legal representative said, "If the Coast Guard apologizes to the bereaved family, we will withdraw the lawsuit," but Lee's son is said to have decided to drop the case without receiving an apology from the KCG.
The case was referred to mediation after its first hearing in February 2022, but the mediation failed in August that year. Since then, hearings had been postponed for years until the outcome of the related criminal case involving charges of falsifying and using official documents, as well as defamation, against former Commissioner Kim.
Kim was indicted on charges including distributing false materials about the possibility that Lee had defected to North Korea, but he was acquitted at both the trial and appellate levels. The acquittal was later finalized after prosecutors decided not to appeal.
Seo Hoon, former presidential national security adviser; Park Jie-won, former NIS director; Suh Wook, former Minister of National Defense; and No Eun-chae, former NIS chief of staff, who were tried alongside Kim, also had their acquittals finalized.

[email protected] Jung Kyung-soo Reporter