Following the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made announcements denying what they did during the previous administration.

At an official and semi-official briefing two or three years ago, all the statements made by the government's diplomatic and security speakers became false.



So, is what the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Unification, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are saying now is true?

If the government changes after 5 years, they may change their language again.

Just as the truth two or three years ago became a lie today, the truth today can be a lie five years later.

Today's lies will be restored to the truth in 5 years.



I couldn't believe the government announcement straight away.

Distrust of the government.

The harm is not small.

The Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Unification are curious about how they will accept the absurdity of changing lies and truth depending on the government.

I want you to keep in mind the meaning and weight of public service serving citizens.


The Ministry of Unification's excuse is "At the request of the Security Office..."


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Cho Jung-hoon, spokesman for the Ministry of Unification, said at a regular briefing on the 11th, "Considering the various damages that North Korean fishermen will suffer if they are handed over to North Korea, we have a position that there is clearly something wrong with the repatriation of North Korean fishermen to North Korea." said.

"In November 2019, the Ministry of Unification reported to the National Assembly that 'the crew made a written request for protection and submitted it'."



It is said that the Moon Jae-in administration's repatriation of defector fishermen to North Korea was wrong, and the Ministry of Unification at that time confirmed and informed the fishermen's intention to defect.

The Unification Ministry also 'crossed the river and disregarded' the forced repatriation to North Korea.

Spokesperson Cho said, "The Ministry of Unification received a press briefing from the National Security Office immediately after the decision to deport the crew was made, and the briefing was conducted after that."



It sounds like a confession that in the Moon Jae-in government, because he was afraid of power, he co-operated with what the power told him to do.

The current power of the Ministry of Unification is also frightening.

Even the 11th briefing stating "It is wrong to repatriate North Korean defectors to North Korea" cannot erase the suspicion that they are not paying attention to power.


The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are not making excuses


In January 2020, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea and the UN Human Rights Council Enforced Disappearance Working Group inquired of the South Korean government about the human rights of North Korean fishermen during the forced repatriation process.

A month later, the government responded, "Although the sailors did express their intention to defect later, it was understood that there was no sincerity in that when they were captured by the South Korean military authorities, they escaped with warning fire and one of them was trying to make an extreme choice."



Yesterday (15th), two and a half years later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a position saying, "The Moon Jae-in administration's response contains insufficient or inappropriate content in light of the standards of universal international human rights standards."

"As a ministry in charge of external relations, it is regrettable that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not been more actively involved in the process of writing the response," he said.

He closed his eyes to the fact that the government agency that should be strictly strict was not right, but he did not reveal the reason and said sorry.



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On the 16th of last month, the Ministry of National Defense and the Coast Guard announced the final investigation results of the shooting of a public official in the West Sea.

The conclusion of 'voluntarily defection to North Korea' was changed to 'no evidence of defection'.

Yoon Hyung-jin, head of the Ministry of National Defense's policy planning department, bowed his head, saying, "I am sorry to have caused confusion to the public by announcing that the murdered public official may have attempted to defect to North Korea."

Together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they expressed their regret without explaining the reason for the overturn.

Only the Ministry of Unification, which used the pretext of the former government's Security Office as an excuse, became relatively honest and clumsy.


Difficulty of Political Neutrality


The closest superiors of civil servants are the government.

The regime tends to take full advantage of the window of opportunity that was briefly open during the period of power to perform distorted actions to achieve its political purpose.

Public officials are swayed by the carrots and sticks offered by the power in front of them and fall into the temptation of co-workers.



Far from civil servants, the ultimate boss is the citizen.

The loyalty of civil servants to citizens is realized through political neutrality.

The political neutrality of civil servants is to mitigate the distorted behavior of the government in pursuit of political ends.

It is a duty that cannot be neglected in spite of the difficulties of overcoming the interests and fears of power.



The Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Unification, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are responsible for security.

Security is the value of political neutrality.

These three institutions must maintain security and political neutrality as well as the inherent political neutrality of public office.

It has a greater obligation to be politically neutral than any other institution.

However, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Unification, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are not centered like a reed due to the political winds of old and new powers.

There are no citizens above the three institutions, only the government is visible.



In the future, the announcements of the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Unification, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should not be taken at face value.

It was laborious, but it was necessary to coolly verify whether it was a lie that was uttered by relying on power politics.

We are concerned about the regression to an era in which truth and lies are dominated by women, an era in which the government takes precedence over citizens, and an era of government distrust.

Everything will be resolved when politics come to an end, but it is difficult to expect.