Coast Guard executive wins lawsuit to cancel dismissal from position after defecting to North Korea in connection with West Sea civil servant shooting incident

(Incheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Choi Eun-ji = A Coast Guard official who was dismissed from his position after making a judgment that placed more weight on the side of 'civil servant defecting to North Korea' in relation to the 2020 attack on a civil servant in the West Sea filed an administrative lawsuit and won.

The Incheon District Court's Administrative Division 1-2 (Chief Judge Choi Sang-soo) announced on the 27th that it ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed by Superintendent Kim Tae-gyun (currently Pohang Coast Guard Chief) against the Chief of the Coast Guard requesting cancellation of his dismissal from his position.

The court revoked the Coast Guard's decision to remove Superintendent Kim from his position and ordered him to pay all legal costs.

The 'West Sea Civil Servant Attack' is an incident in which Lee Dae-jun, who was a member of the West Sea Fishery Management Team of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, went missing in the southern waters of Soyeonpyeong Island, Ongjin-gun, Incheon, and was shot dead by North Korean soldiers in North Korean waters the next day.

Superintendent Kim served as the head of the Coast Guard's criminal division at the time and attended the announcement of the results of the third interim investigation.

Inspector General Kim reported Mr. Lee's motive for defecting to North Korea following the instructions of the Coast Guard Commissioner, and in announcing the results of the investigation, he explained that "Mr. Lee was thinking about defecting to North Korea after spending the money he spent on crab purchases on gambling."

However, two years later, the Coast Guard and the Ministry of National Defense announced the results of an investigation that overturned the previous contents, and the Board of Audit and Inspection requested disciplinary action from the Coast Guard, claiming that Superintendent Kim had distorted the investigation details to create the basis for Mr. Lee's decision to defect to North Korea.

Afterwards, the Coast Guard relieved Superintendent Kim, who was also reported to the prosecution on charges of writing false official documents, from his position on December 29, 2023.

Superintendent Kim had not been assigned to his position for about 1 year and 6 months since July 2022, before he was relieved of his position, and was effectively on a waiting list.

The court judged that the Coast Guard's action was an unfair abuse of personnel rights.

The court ruled, “The plaintiff was already at a disadvantage in terms of status and property because he had not been assigned to a position for a long period of time, and since he was dismissed from a position that did not exist in reality, it was a deviation and abuse of his discretion.”

In addition, it was taken into consideration that, following the confirmation of innocence of the former Chief of the Coast Guard, Inspector General Kim was also non-indicted by the prosecution last July.

The court stated the reason for the plaintiff's victory, saying, "It cannot be said that the plaintiff's misconduct was serious or that it made it difficult to perform normal duties."

Accordingly, the Coast Guard's internal disciplinary action related to the West Sea civil servant shooting incident was overturned one after another by the court.

Former Namhae Coast Guard Chief Yoon Seong-hyun, who previously announced the results of the interim investigation into the West Sea civil servant shooting incident as the head of the Coast Guard's Investigation and Intelligence Bureau, won a lawsuit filed against the Coast Guard Chief for the cancellation of suspension and dismissal.