Roh Will Return Copies of Online Records
By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
Former President Roh Moo-hyun said Wednesday that he will return all copies of online documents taken from Cheong Wa Dae's main computer servers.
``We will return all copies. The administration can either take the documents themselves or I can send them the documents if they want,'' the former President said.
Roh said in a letter to President Lee Myung-bak, ``The government says it wants to prosecute seven or eight former secretaries and aides from my previous administration who have already retired. How could I fight against the government's demands?''
The incumbent government and Roh have been at odds over the issue for weeks. Lee's administration has charged that the former President and his staff ``clearly committed illegal acts.''
The government is alleging that Roh's aides took with them large amounts of top-secret information from computer servers.
Roh has maintained that there was nothing dangerous or illegal about taking a copy of his administration's records from computer servers.
The current government said Roh has large volume of classified online documents in his possession at his home in Bongha, South Gyeongsang Province.
Some media reports said Roh took highly classified information from the computer servers, including data on inter-Korean economic exchanges and trade deals with the United States.
Roh's aides have acknowledged that they have made copies of some documents from their administrative records, but they argued that the case is being blown out of proportion by the Lee administration as well as some conservative newspapers.