Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
NIS accused of anti-Moon campaign
A spokesman for the National Intelligence Service (NIS), center, argues with officials from the Democratic United Party in front of an NIS staffer’s studio apartment in southern Seoul, Tuesday. The opposition party claimed the worker posted online comments critical of the party’s presidential candidate Moon Jae-in under the intelligence agency’s orders. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han
By Kim Rahn
By Kim Rahn
The main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) filed a complaint against the nation’s intelligence agency, Wednesday, for allegedly ordering its agents to upload postings denouncing the party’s presidential candidate Moon Jae-in.
“Along with the complaint, we submitted evidence we secured to the police. We urge the police to launch an investigation promptly,” DUP spokesman Jin Sung-joon said.
The complaint follows allegations that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) has systematically worked against Moon’s campaign, such as posting of online comments critical of him.
The party claimed a 28-year-old female NIS staffer, surnamed Kim, was involved in the anti-Moon activities.
Police said they plan to summon Kim for questioning over the allegations against her by the end of this week.
Earlier on Tuesday, Jin said in a media briefing, “We were recently tipped off that the NIS formed a department for anti-Moon activities. It is suspected that Kim, a member of the department, had been ordered to post online articles denouncing Moon from a studio flat in Yeoksam-dong for the last three months.”
Jin called for a thorough investigation by the police and the National Election Commission (NEC), saying, “If the NIS really meddled in the presidential election and committed these acts, these are acts of flagrant illegality.”
After the briefing, DUP officials, police officers and workers of the NEC visited her studio apartment at around 7 p.m., asking her to let them in. As they were without a warrant, Kim refused. About eight hours later, she allowed them in, but didn’t allow them to examine her computer. They didn’t find any other evidence.
The NIS strongly refuted the DUP’s claim.
“We’ve never played a part in any political activity. The studio is the staffer’s personal residence,” it said in a press release.
“It is wrong to enter a person’s private place without permission and with no clear reason. It is regrettable that the DUP conducts negative campaigning by manipulating the intelligence agency. We are considering legal action against the false claim,” it said.
However, Kim Bu-gyeom, Moon’s campaign manager said they have obtained evidence and will disclose it if the NIS keeps denying the accusations. “According to the tip, dozens of NIS workers received laptops and each of them has spread comments critical of Moon or false rumors about him from a secret base in order to avoid IP tracking,” he said.
The NIS staffer Kim, who has lived in the studio for two years, leasing it under her mother’s name, told several local dailies that she will file a complaint against the people who visited her home for housebreaking.
“As an NIS staffer, I’ve always maintained political neutrality. I’ve never posted a single article about the presidential election. It is groundless that my home is an NIS safe house,” she said.
It was found that when she encountered the NEC staffers and others in front of her home, she said that she didn’t work for the NIS. Regarding this, she said, “You can’t say it was a lie, because all NIS workers keep their identity secret.”