Surveillance of civilians draws fire

Democratic Party intensifies attack on gov’t, forms fact-finding committee

By Kang Shin-who
Staff reporter

The Office of the Prime Minister has come under fire over allegations that it has conducted surveillance of a citizen, who posted an anti-government video, made by a student living in the United States, on a website in 2008.

The opposition Democratic Party is intensifying its attack on the government, demanding the National Assembly hold hearings and a parliamentary investigation into charges that the government had conducted unlawful surveillance. It also established a fact-finding committee, Friday.

The case was first made public on the latest episode of MBC TV's investigative journal PD Notebook. In the program that aired on June 29 with the title: "Why did the government conduct surveillance on me?," the person, identified as Kim Jong-ik said his life has been ruined, hit by the surveillance orchestrated by a division of the premier's office for posting a video clip on his blog.

'Juiko' clip

The 25-minute clip titled "Juiko," literally meaning "mouse nose" in Korean, is a parodied title after "Sicko," the 2007 documentary by American film maker Michael Moore which slammed the then Bush administration's health care policies.

In the clip, a male narrator introduces himself as a Korean student studying in Los Angeles who says he made the clip. It criticizes the conservative Lee administration for importing American beef, the four river redevelopment project and other polices.

In the MBC program, Kim, a former small business owner in his 50s, said he had been forced to relinquish his post at the company and had to transfer all of his company shares to others. He had been indicted on charges of defamation of President Lee Myung-bak, though the indictment was suspended later. He ended up selling the company and left for Japan.

This is not the first time that the Lee administration has been accused of conducting surveillance on citizens. In September, 2009, Park Won-soon, the executive director of The Hope Institute, a civic group, claimed the National Intelligence Service was conducting wide surveillance of civic groups and their members and putting a great deal of pressure on them.

The scandal couldn't come at a better time for the opposition DP. It is capitalizing on the latest scandal, apparently seeking to make it a political issue to attack the ruling party and the government ahead of the July 28 parliamentary by-elections.

'Yeongpogate'

The opposition party is calling the latest surveillance scandal "Yeongpogate." Yeongpo is short for Yeongil and Pohang, two southeastern port cities. Lee In-kyu, a senior official of the premier's office, is a member of a fraternity group of officials whose hometowns are the two port cities.

Lee apparently regularly reported the results of the surveillance of the citizen to other members of the group, known as "Yeongpo-hwi." Pohang is also the hometown of President Lee. Yeongpo-hwi reportedly played a significant role in rallying support for Lee to be elected in the 2007 presidential polls.

After the scandal surfaced, the premier's office suspended Lee from his job.

DP Chairman Chung pledged that his party will mobilize all of its power to unearth the truth behind what it calls "Yeongpogate."

"We will investigate this unlawful surveillance of citizens to the end of this government," DP Chairman Chung Se-kyun said. "Yeongpogate is a typical method used by dictators who abused their power."

In response, the governing Grand National Party called on the opposition party to stop its "political assault."

"The government itself is investigating the case and checking whether anything illegal was done," GNP spokesman Cho Hae-jin said. "While the investigation is under way, the DP should stop its political abuse."

시민 감시 비난 빗발쳐

국무총리실은 2008년 미국에 사는 학생이 만든 반정부 비디오를 웹사이트에 올린 한 시민을 계속 감시했다는 주장과 관련 강한 비난을 받고 있다.

야당인 민주당은 정부가 불법적인 감시를 했다는 주장에 대해 국회 청문회 및 조사를 요구하며 정부에 공세를 강화하고 있다. 민주당은 또한 금요일 진상조사위원회를 만들었다.

이 사건은 MBC TV의 탐사보도인 “PD 수첩”의 최근 회에서 처음 공개됐다. “왜 정부는 나를 감시 하는가?”라는 제목으로 6월 29일 방영된 이 프로그램에서 김종익이라는 사람은 자신의 블로그에 비데오를 올린데 대해 총리실의 한 과에서 주도한 감시로 자신의 인생이 망가졌다고 주장했다.

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