Hearings on spy agency to start Aug. 7

By Kim Tae-gyu

The governing Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) agreed Sunday to hold hearings on the National Intelligence Service (NIS) early next month on its alleged involvement in last year’s presidential election.

To terminate the lingering political standoffs, the two sides concurred on the two-day parliamentary hearings on Aug. 7 and 8. On Aug. 5, the NIS will brief the case to the National Assembly.

The briefing was supposed to take place last week but it collapsed because Saenuri Party members and NIS head Nam Jae-joon did not participate as the DP lawmakers asked for its disclosure to the public.

Saenuri lawmakers claimed that the briefing should not be open to people since the relevant law stipulates that details of the spy agency’s activities and organization should remain secret.

By contrast, opposition parties have countered that if it takes place behind closed doors, thorough and transparent investigations cannot be assured.

“We agreed to disclose NIS chief’s opening comments and speech of the two parties’ representatives. But the briefing as well as the question and answer session will not be open,” Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the Saenuri Party said in a joint press conference with Rep. Jung Cheong-rae of the DP.

The two congressmen, who led the negotiations on resuming investigation into the NIS, said that they have almost found a happy medium in witnesses and references, which have been a major bone of contention.

“In picking witnesses, we have ironed out differences to a large extent but we still have some disagreements. We will meet tomorrow (Monday) morning to reach a conclusion. We will make the list available only after that,” Kweon said.

Former NIS chief Won Sei-hoon has been accused of instructing his staff last year to post online comments critical of opposition candidates to help President Park Geun-hye win the election.

Won, a close aide of former President Lee Myung-bak, is now behind bar as he was arrested earlier this month on charges of accepting bribes worth 150 million won ($132,000) from a local contractor in cash and other gifts.

Park has repeatedly said that she has nothing to do with the NIS maneuvering and ordered a thorough investigation into the case, which may cause a big headache to the incumbent administration.

In addition, the rival parties agreed to stop the wrangling on the disappearance of the minute of the 2007 inter-Korean summit between the late former President Roh Moo-hyun and then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Lawmakers opted to check the data to learn whether Roh negated the legitimacy of the Northern limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border that the North has never acknowledged.

But the minute was not found to generate bipartisan bickering on who is responsible for it.