By Jun Ji-hye
The main opposition party leader urged President Park Geun-hye Wednesday to express her willingness to punish the national spy agency that allegedly intervened in the presidential election and other political matters.
“We can no more keep silence about the issue as the disclosures about the agency’s political maneuvering are shocking enough,” said Rep. Kim Han-gil, chairman of the Democratic Party (DP). “I demand that President Park follow her firm principle and express her resolve to punish the National Intelligence Service (NIS). The matters should no more remain covered.”
The NIS has been embroiled in allegations it attempted to manipulate public opinion by posting unfavorable online comments against liberal Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and opposition politicians’ pledges to halve university tuition fees while President Lee Myung-bak was in office.
Rep. Jin Sun-mee of the DP who made the matter public Sunday said the person responsible for describing the opposition’s tuition move as being instigated by North Korean sympathizers now works at Cheong Wa Dae as a detached officer.
The agency and its former head Won Se-hoon are currently under investigation over allegations it intervened in last year’s presidential election by posting comments critical of the opposition party and its candidate Moon Jae-in on the Internet.
Speaking at the party’s supreme council meeting in the National Assembly, Kim said Park’s silence on the issue can only cause anxiety for the public.
“It was revealed that the NIS created certain groups and set up specific plans to intervene in the political scene. Considering that Won is the closest aide of Lee, it is fair enough to assume that the former president ordered the agency to do that work,” said Rep. Park Beom-kye, a member of the DP special committee established to deal with the spy agency case.
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