SEOUL – South Korea was finally able to send back two rescued fishermen across its heavily guarded border with North Korea on Tuesday, after the latter’s refusal to accept them last week.
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But doubts later surfaced over his reported execution when the National Intelligence Service clarified that it had been unable to verify he had been put to death.
Another expert, An Chin Illinois, the head of the World Institute for North Korea studies, suggested Kim Jong Un, who took power in December 2011, did not want to be overshadowed by his predecessors.
Last month, the Korean Central News Agency mentioned Pak’s name after Hwang Pyong So, director of the General Political Department of the Korean People’s Army, sparking speculation Kim Jong Un might have chosen the newly promoted general as a replacement for Hyon. In 2013, he executed his uncle, Jang Song Thaek for allegedly plotting a military coup and disrespecting Kim Jong-un during a military parade by clapping unenthusiastically.
North Korea, whose notorious prison camps have been condemned by global rights groups, announced on Tuesday an amnesty for convicted criminals to coincide with the 70th anniversary of independence from Japanese colonial rule.
But the intrusion near Cheorwon, northeast of Seoul, on Saturday morning did not set off a response from the North Koreans, who just went back to their own side, defense officials said in Seoul.
North Korea’s Red Cross sent a stern message to its South Korean counterpart accusing them of forcing people to defect.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry reiterated its position that it cannot accept North Korea’s demand for a family meeting with the three North Korean fishermen who expressed their desire to stay in the South.
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This story was first published on CNN.com, “Two rescued North Korean fisherman repatriated”.
