The Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office's Public Investigation Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Lee Jun-beom), which investigates the case of forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen to North Korea, is summoning former Blue House National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong as a defendant for investigation on the 31st.
Prosecutors are questioning Jeong, who served as a control tower for the security line of the National Intelligence Service, Ministry of National Defense, and Ministry of Unification, for illegal activities throughout the process of repatriating North Korean fishermen to North Korea.
Jeong was accused by a North Korean human rights group in July of last year for overseeing the process of forcible repatriation of two North Korean fishermen who were accused of killing 16 fellow sailors in November 2019, even though they expressed their intention to defect.
These North Korean fishermen were captured by the military on November 2, 2019, while going south on a fishing boat near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea.
At the time, the government said that those who committed serious non-political crimes such as murder were not eligible for protection, and returned them to North Korea within five days of capture.
(Photo = Yonhap News)