Suspicion that Song Doo-yul Entered North Korea with Secret Passport Issued by North Korea

The first public safety division (Oh Se-hun, superintendent public prosecutor) which scrutinized the event of Song Doo-yul’s violating the National Security Law, at the Seoul district public prosecutor’s office, on October 15 announced that they were investigating the details of the incident because they concluded that after acquiring German citizenship, Song entered North Korea two or three times by using a passport issued secretly from North Korea.

The prosecution said, “When we collectively reviewed the statements by Song, the North`s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper’s report, and other evidence, it is presumed that Song entered North Korea at a specific day. But a time gap appeared because there was no evidence showing his North Korea visit in his German passport. We doubt that Song used the North Korean passport, which was issued with the name of Kim Chul-soo (candidate in the political division, Rodong party, North Korea) or a third person, together. “

The prosecution reported that even though they pressed hard and summoned Song seven times on this day to find out whether he used the passport of North Korea and the details of the affair, Song denied the fact he used the North Korean passport.

The prosecution considered that it was very possible for Song to use a duplicate passport, judging that if a foreigner visits North Korea informally owing to an invitation from North Korea, the foreigner usually enters North Korea with a North Korean passport under an assumed name by passing through a middle point such as Russia or Beijing as a rule.

The prosecution made clear that they found out the fact while investigating Song’s visit to North Korea, and they concluded the number of times of Song’s visit to North Korea was actually 20, two more than the 18 visits that the National Intelligence Service had indicated.

But the defense attorney of Song contradicted these findings, saying, “Though Song entered North Korea 18 or 19 times as his German passport records shows, but on protocol it said that he entered North Korea more that twenty times. So I demand a correction. “

On the other hand, on that day the prosecution clarified that they were under examination because Song submitted a document titled “I Clear up My Thoughts”, which includes leaving the Rodong party and abandoning his German citizenship. The prosecution also collectively examined his background and the attitude with which Song submitted this document. The prosecution will confirm the final policy about the decision to treat Song with a conference with the Ministry of Justice after one more summons investigation this week.

Sang-Rok Lee Tae-Hoon Lee myzodan@donga.com jefflee@donga.com