Visitors walk past a military fence covered with ribbons with messages calling for peace and reunification at the Imjingak peace park near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea in Paju on Jan 1, 2021. (JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
SEOUL – The Republic of Korea's presidential office denounced on Wednesday the repatriation of two fishermen from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 2019 as a potential "crime against humanity" by the previous government.
The comments came after Seoul's Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the DPRK, released photographs of the two men, who were suspected of killing 16 shipmates, being forcibly dragged across the border between the neighbors.
At the time of the deportation, the government of then president Moon Jae-in called the two fishermen "dangerous criminals" who had killed colleagues in a fight over an abusive captain on their ship before crossing the sea border
"If they were forcibly repatriated to the North even when they expressed their will to defect, it's a crime against humanity that violated both international law and the constitution," Kang In-sun, spokeswoman for President Yoon Suk-yeol, told reporters. The DPRK is also referred to as North Korea.
She vowed that Yoon's administration would uncover the truth behind the decision, as the ROK's prosecutors have re-opened an investigation into the case.
ALSO READ: UN official: ROK violated rights of deported DPRK fishermen
At the time of the deportation, the government of then president Moon Jae-in called the fishermen "dangerous criminals" who had killed colleagues in a fight over an abusive captain on their ship before crossing the sea border.
Moon has not commented on the renewed allegations, but his Democratic Party defended the move as being legal and in the national interest.
"Moon's government put the life and safety of the people first, which was the basic responsibility of the country at the time," party members said in a statement on Wednesday.
Human rights activists have condemned the repatriation, and a UN investigator said the ROK had probably violated the men's rights.
Kang In-sun, spokeswoman for President Yoon Suk-yeol, vowed that Yoon's administration would uncover the truth behind the decision, as the ROK's prosecutors have re-opened an investigation into the case
While their fate has not been confirmed, there was an expectation their rights would be violated when they were turned over to the DPRK authorities, Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN rights official, said during a visit to Seoul last month.
This meant Seoul had an obligation to deal with them in the ROK's justice system rather than immediately repatriate them, he added.
READ MORE: ROK: Suspected DPRK dam water release prompts evacuationFI
"The two men’s desperate resistance to being forced back that is so apparent in those photos shows that they understood they were fighting for their lives," Phil Robertson, an official of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
"Moon Jae-in and his officials knew that too, and yet still they sent them back."