By Na Jeong-ju
Prosecutors raided the houses of two former staffers of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Monday who were allegedly involved in destroying evidence about the government’s illegal monitoring of people critical of President Lee Myung-bak.
The two suspects ― Chang Jin-soo and Jin Kyung-rak ― worked at the PMO’s ethics bureau, which conducted surveillance activities from 2008 to 2009 allegedly under the direction of the presidential office.
The raid came as the prosecution is digging deeper into the scandal based on Chang’s revelation that presidential aides were behind the surveillance and ordered the PMO bureau to destroy related data.
Chang claims that Jin, who was his boss, took away a laptop that contained crucial information about the bureau’s monitoring activities when the prosecution first investigated the scandal in 2010. Jin denied the allegation, saying he knows nothing about the computer.
The prosecution has issued a summons for former Cheong Wa Dae staffer Choi Jong-seok, who reportedly played a role in covering up the presidential office’s involvement. Choi, currently working at the Korean Embassy in the United States, has returned to Korea and will be questioned Thursday.
Back in 2008, Choi worked under Lee Young-ho, then-presidential secretary for employment and labor. Lee said in a press conference last week that he ordered Choi to destroy computer hard disks at the PMO bureau, but claimed it was not because they contained any information about illegal activities, but because he had to prevent a possible leak of confidential information about public servants. Lee is also facing a summons.
The question is whether President Lee received any reports on the surveillance scheme. Chang made a fresh claim Tuesday that he once heard from Cheong Wa Dae officials that his case was reported to the President.
The allegation suggests the involvement of former presidential chief of staff Yim Tae-hee. Yim was found to have provided money to the families of Lee In-kyu, the chief of the PMO bureau, and other staffers ahead of the Chuseok holiday in 2010. They were all behind bars at the time after being indicted for their involvement in the surveillance scheme.
Yim flatly denied the suspicion that the money was offered as compensation. He said he gave it to “console” their families.
Following its first probe in 2010, the prosecution indicted only seven low-ranking civil servants, including Chang and Jin, for the illegal monitoring. It said at the time that it couldn’t discover any evidence suggesting Cheong Wa Dae’s involvement, drawing harsh criticism from opposition parties that it was attempting to conceal the truth.
An appeals court handed down an eight-month prison sentence suspended for two years to Chang for his involvement in the surveillance case.