Seoul, July 16 (IANS) South Korean prosecutors have launched a probe into Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, and the Pyongyang’s military chief on charges of blowing up an inter-Korean liaison office last month, officials said here on Thursday.
The unprecedented and symbolic probe into Kim Yo-jong, who serves as the first vice department director of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, and Army Gen. Pak Jong-chon, chief of the General Staff of the North Korean army, came after a South Korean lawyer filed a criminal complaint against them over the Kaesong office demolition, reports Yonhap News Agency.
North Korea destroyed the inter-Korean liaison office in its border city of Kaesong on June 16 apparently in anger over propaganda leaflets criticizing Kim Jong-un, following Kim Yo-jong’s warning of such a demolition in a statement issued on June 13.
Seoul-based lawyer Lee Kyung-jae filed the complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office on July 8.
The Seoul prosecution plans to review Lee’s complaint before deciding whether to apply charges against Kim Yo-jong and Pak, the officials said.
It is virtually impossible for Seoul prosecutors to punish the North Korean officials, Yonhap quoted legal experts as saying here.
Even if the North Koreans were found guilty in a local court, there is no way to execute the verdict, they added.
–IANS
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