'Spy scandal' turns into truth game

By Jun Ji-hye

A dispute over whether Chinese travel documents for a North Korean defector were forged or properly obtained by government agencies here, is fast becoming a game of truth or dare between state entities in Seoul and the Chinese embassy in the capital.

The prosecution and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) claim they followed all legal procedures to obtain travel records for Yoo Woo-sung, a North Korean defector employed by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, who is currently on trial on charges of espionage.

However, they have yet to prove that the documents are authentic because the Chinese Embassy maintains that it never issued the documents.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also implicated in the dispute because, in principle, it is in overall charge of the Korean consulate in Shenyang, located in China's Liaoning Province, which first secured the records before handing over them to investigators.

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) said the alleged document forgery was an attempt by government entities to create a “fake spy,” while the ruling Saenuri Party said it was premature to reach a conclusion at this stage, and is making efforts to confirm the validity of the allegations.

The controversy broke after the Chinese Embassy to Korea said last Thursday that three documents proving Yoo visited North Korea obtained by the prosecution and submitted to a Seoul appellate court were not genuine.

After a lower court cleared Yoo in August last year, investigators suggested that records at the appellate court as part of evidence to prove suspicions that Yoo handed over personal information of some 200 North Korean defectors to Pyongyang. The appellate trial began in October.

According to an announcement by the prosecution last week, NIS members stationed in the consulate secured the records and delivered them to investigators. They said the Shenyang diplomatic mission confirmed with the Chinese government that the documents were authentic.

However, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, made a contradictory point to that given by the prosecution, Tuesday, saying, “The consulate secured one document,” not three, as claimed by the prosecution.

He added that the ministry did not receive requests from the prosecution about the two others.

A number of NIS members, together with foreign ministry staffers, are stationed at the consulate of the border city between China and the North because it is a frontline location for obtaining North Korean intelligence.

The documents which have the seals of the government of Helong, a city in northeastern China on them, appear to show that Yoo entered the North on May 23, 2006 and returned to China on May 27. Then, according to the records, he apparently entered the Stalinist state again on May 27 and returned to China on June 10.

The prosecution argued that Yoo’s second visit was to get orders from Pyongyang to engage in espionage. Yoo claimed that the first visit was to attend his mother’s funeral and that he never entered the North again after that.

The DP plans to take to the streets today to hold a rally at Gwanghwamun square over the allegations.

Rep. Park Beom-kye of the DP, a former judge, said: “(The prosecution and the NIS) infringed on China’s sovereignty by fabricating Chinese government documents.”

In response, the ruling party argued that it was just illogical to hastily claim that investigators attempted to manufacture a spy.

“I feel anger over the DP jumping to the conclusion that the nation violated Beijing’s sovereignty,” said Rep. Kim Do-eup.

Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn strongly denied the fabrication of documents by the prosecution.

“There is no such thing as fabrication of documents by the prosecution. The judicial branch and investigators of Republic of Korea are not a sham. We are sparing no effort to show the matter in its true light in every legally possible way,” Hwang said.