Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
'President's brother tipped off on leak of presidential document'
By Yi Whan-woo
Park Ji-man
By Yi Whan-woo
President Park Geun-hye’s younger brother tipped off the presidential office and the country’s spy agency about a leak of confidential document from Cheong Wa Dae in May, according to the Segye Ilbo, Wednesday.
However Park Ji-man’s efforts reportedly failed after presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon dismissed the information he supplied and the then chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), Nam Jae-joon was sacked.
The report comes amid growing concerns over the apparent lack of confidentiality and security regarding presidential documents in the wake of a leak of an internal memorandum from Cheong Wa Dae that shook the nation last week.
According to the daily, Park Ji-man 54, obtained a printed version of a document on May 12.
It was compiled by the office of secretary to the President for civil service discipline, which, among its duties, investigates acts of possible corruption among members of the President’s family.
The document warned of possible fraud by those who claim to be the President’s family members, including Park Ji-man.
He requested that Kim and Nam look into how the document was leaked, according to Segye Ilbo. The daily stated that the presidential chief of staff ignored the tip and tried to conceal it.
The media added that Nam promised to investigate the case. The spy chief, however, was fired by the President on May 22 for a remark that angered the public in the wake of the Sewol ferry disaster on April. 16. Nam claimed that Cheong Wa Dae is not a control tower for national security and should not be held accountable for failing to prevent the country’s worst maritime disaster.
The Segye Ilbo report comes after a report published Friday that a police officer, Park Gwan-cheon, allegedly leaked a Cheong Wa Dae memoranda that he helped to compile while working served at the presidential office’s internal affairs investigation division from April 2013 to January of this year.