20-something Coast Guardsman Missing from the NLL Area in the West Sea

2021-9-22, Tara O

A 20-something South Korean Coast Guardsman disappeared from the Northern Limit Line (NLL) area in the West Sea on September 10, 2021.  The missing person began his watch duty from noon to 4 p.m. on September 10, 2021 on Coast Guard Ship 518 (500-ton class) near Socheong Island (Socheongdo), Ongjn County, Incheon City.  He left to go to the restroom around 1 p.m. and never returned.  He was a rookie, who recently graduated from the Republic of Korea (ROK) Coast Guard Academy.

The Korean Coast Guard (해양경찰청) conducted search and rescue operations, and notified the Unification Ministry, which asked North Korea for cooperation on the missing Coast Guardsman.

This incident is reminiscent of North Korea shooting and burning a South Korean man floating on the water a year ago (he went missing on September 20, 2020, and was shot and burnt the next day).  He was a government employee of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, who disappeared near Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea near the NLL.  The government quickly implied he defected to North Korea.  His son had to write a letter to President Moon Jae-in to refute it and to ask to restore his father’s honor.

The Moon administration is also investigating the possibility of the rookie Coast Guardsman defecting to North Korea, which is enraging those who see the repetition of the government’s tendency to put the blame for disappearances on those who went missing by jumping to the “defection to North Korea” concept.

Such tendency is not going unnoticed.  A YouTuber asked why would a recent Coast Guard Academy graduate, who after initial training, began his job only in July this year, would defect to North Korea. With the youth unemployment high, government jobs are competitive and highly sought after.  The Coast Guard graduate had to study and take rigorous steps to get into the Academy and to become a Coast Guardsman, and had a career ahead of him.  The YouTuber asked why would such a man give up everything and go to North Korea. (1:17) 

The Coast Guard fired 180 flares and used 22 ships and 5 aircraft to search the waters at night on the 10th. The next day from 8 am to 5 p.m., 27 ships, 75 civilian vessels, and 7 aircraft were deployed, with a request for assistance to other fishing boats and aircraft flying through nearby waters. From 6 p.m., 27 ships and 3 aircraft continued to search at night, but the missing Coast Guardsman was not found.