Ex-President Roh Asked to Return Database System
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The government has asked aides of former President Roh Moo-hyun to return the original copy of the database system of the presidential office reportedly containing more than two million documents, an official said Friday.
An official of the National Archives said the agency also asked Roh and his aides not to access the copied database system again citing national security reasons, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The government's move came after local media reports said that former Cheong Wa Dae officials copied the hardware system of the presidential office, which has more than two million document copies including classified data associated with national interests, before Roh retired in late February.
Reports said Roh's aides built an Internet operation system based on the copied database and accessed the database after the former President retired.
According to a government source, copying the data is illegal and the copied hardware is vulnerable to online hacking.
``If this happens, it could deal a blow to national security,'' said the source.
Citing a government official, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that several former presidential office staffers formed a task force in 2006 in an effort to build a solid web site which he called a small version of Cheong Wa Dae after Roh retired.
The official was quoted as saying that the former President plans to launch an online web site, named Democracy 2.0, in mid-June based on the hardware system, through which Roh plans to discuss issues with bloggers.
``Roh seemed to want to make his voice heard through the online discussion site,'' said the official.
While in office, Roh was an active Internet user and shared his views with Internet users by posting his thoughts and ideas into government web sites when contentious issues arose.