Ex-spy agency head led sex slavery deal
By Kim Rahn
Lee Byung-kee
Former spy agency chief Lee Byung-kee is facing allegations that he virtually led the negotiations that resulted in a controversial deal with Japan in 2015 over its wartime sexual slavery instead of the foreign ministry.
He served as the country’s ambassador to Japan from May 2013 to July 2014 before assuming the post of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief. The sexual slavery agreement was reached when he was working as chief of staff for then-President Park Geun-hye.
Calls are likely to grow to hold Lee and Park accountable for the agreement, which was found to have been reached hastily without taking into consideration the opinions of surviving former sex slaves, and even contained secret parts pertinent to the issue.
A fact-finding team at the ministry announced Wednesday that most parts of the deal were made in closed meetings between Lee and Japan’s National Security Adviser Shotaro Yachi. Separate meetings between officials of the two nations’ foreign ministries did not produce any meaningful results, it said.
Lee was arrested in November for allegedly giving parts of the NIS’ budget in kickbacks to former President Park through her key aides at Cheong Wa Dae when he was its chief.
Lee and Yachi had eight meetings from the end of 2014 until five days before the agreement was announced Dec. 28.
The team suspected Lee took part in the deal as he was a former ambassador to Japan before heading the NIS.
“Park made the former NIS head act as a de facto representative in the deal, and this means Park’s opinions and decisions were largely reflected in the agreement,” said Oh Tai-kyu, who led the fact-finding team.
The team did not interview Lee who is in custody over the bribery allegations.
Before his arrest, Lee said in an interview that he “offered help” for the deal but did not lead it, adding his meetings with Yachi were reported to former President Park. “I was in a position between Park and the foreign ministry,” he was quoted as saying.
The agreement was made to resolve the issue of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery of Korean women. According to the team, the agreement did not reflect the opinions from the victims and was rather a political compromise. The foreign ministry also suggested Cheong Wa Dae drop the controversial term ― the issue was settled “irreversibly” ― but this was not accepted. With the deal, Japan claims the issue should not be re-discussed.
The Park administration also kept some sensitive parts of the deal secret to avoid public criticism of concessions, including Japan’s demand that the government make efforts to remove statues of a girl symbolizing the victims.