South Korea arrests former top officials over 2020 killing

By KIM TONG-HYUNG
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s former defense minister and coast guard chief have been arrested over their alleged involvement in covering up facts and distorting the circumstances surrounding North Korea’s killing of a South Korean fisheries official in 2020 near the rivals’ tense sea border. The arrests Saturday came as the government of conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol expands investigations into the 2020 killing and another border incident in 2019 that prompted criticism that Seoul’s previous liberal administration improperly appeased the North to improve ties. The opposition liberal Democratic Party claims the investigations are being driven by Yoon’s political vendetta against his predecessor Moon Jae-in.