There was no evidence that the South Korean fisheries official shot and burned by North Korean troops in 2020 intended to defect, South Korea's maritime and military authorities said on Thursday, reversing its earlier announcement.
The official, Lee Dae-jun, went missing at sea in September 2020 while working as a fishing inspector. North Korean authorities later shot him dead and set his body on fire, an incident that shocked many South Koreans and increased cross-border tension.
South Korea's coast guard and military said at the time that Lee appeared to have sought to defect to the North, citing intelligence sources and his gambling debt. But Lee's family refuted the claim, raising a lawsuit calling for the disclosure of government records.
