Former NIS Officer Faces GNP Lawsuit
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The leader of the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) said Monday his party will file a lawsuit against Lee Sang-eop, a former senior official of the spy agency for orchestrating the covert operations against Lee Myung-bak, one of GNP's leading presidential contenders.
GNP Chairman Kang Jae-sup said, ``It was quite shocking that the spy agency can gain access to 17 different government-run online systems to inspect details of citizens' property transactions.
He went on to say that the agency's meddling in the presidential election cannot be justified under any circumstances.
The GNP is scheduled to complete legal action by Wednesday.
Close aides of Lee also vented deep anger against Park as one of her aides was reported to have masterminded another case of leaking classified information that had fueled attacks on Lee.
A group of lawmakers led by Rep. Ahn Sang-soo visited the spy agency in southern Seoul to protest its operation of a covert team to find out weak points of the GNP presidential candidate.
The legal action and the on-site protest came after it urged President Roh Moo-hyun to fire the chief of the spy agency and make a public apology Sunday.
Presidential hopeful Lee is currently at war with two entities__ one against the nation's spy agency and the other an internal conflict against his rival Park Geun-hye.
His outside enemy is the intelligence agency, which was reported to be a powerhouse of the production and circulation of classified documents on the former Seoul mayor.
Lee's camp is mulling over how to react to the alleged involvement of Park's camp in another smear campaign Lee.
Reports said one of the staff working for Park obtained a copy of documents on all property deals the former Seoul mayor made in the past from a retired police officer.
A lawmaker of the pro-government Uri Party used the same copy to attack Lee at the National Assembly in June. He claimed that Lee, a former Seoul mayor, had phony residential address for property speculation purposes.
Close aides of the former Seoul mayor suspected that there might be a link between the former party chairwoman's camp and the lawmaker of the pro-government party.
``The focal point is whether there was any connection between Park's camp and the ruling group on this issue, and we will see how it turns out in the near future as investigation is underway,'' said a Lee's spokesman.
Lee's confidants expressed discontent about the former party chairwoman.
``If the two groups shared the information on Lee, it is a serious problem. If it is true, it will be the worst case of a plot designed to topple down a competitor in the party nomination,'' said a close lawmaker of Lee.
The former Seoul mayor declined to offer any direct answer on the matter.
Park has remained silent about the report.
The latest episode has portrayed Lee as a victim of political surveillance although the daughter of late president Park Chung-hee said the point is for Lee to clarify what she believes Lee's questionable accumulation of wealth through shady property speculation.