Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
Ex-spy chief may face probe over Roh's death
By Lee Kyung-min
Won Sei-hoon
By Lee Kyung-min
A civic group has asked the prosecution to launch an investigation into suspicions that former National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Won Sei-hoon interfered in a 2009 corruption probe that targeted former President Roh Moo-hyun.
Roh committed suicide during the probe.
The People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) said Wednesday it filed a complaint with the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office to demand an investigation into Won and the spy agency.
The PSPD alleges that the NIS leaked incorrect information on Roh to the media at the behest of Won to create negative public sentiment toward the former president.
“Any NIS meddling in 2009, if proven true, is a serious abuse of power. We demand the prosecution uncover the truth surrounding rumors about Roh,” the group said in a statement.
Their move follows an accusation first raised by former senior prosecutor Lee In-kyu, who headed the 2009 investigation into Roh.
During a media interview last month, Lee said it was the NIS, not the prosecutors, who leaked the detailed “misinformation” related to Roh.
At the time, Roh’s wife, Kwon Yang-suk, was being investigated for taking a bribe ― a high-end Swiss wristwatch ― from former Taekwang Group Chairman Park Yeon-cha.
“Media reporting was very specific at the time that Kwon threw the watch in the rice paddy, using quotes from anonymous sources from the prosecutors’ office. Many people were led to believe it was true,” Lee said in the interview.
“However, the prosecution did not engage in such manipulative media control during the probe. The rumor was spread by NIS agents,” he added.
Roh was summoned on April 30, 2009, and a few days later, media reported that “Roh told prosecutors that his wife threw the watch in the rice paddy.”
Roh jumped from a cliff to his death in his hometown on May 23, 2009, 10 days after the media reports.
Won was put behind bars after an appeals court sentenced him to three years in prison last month for ordering his agents to post political comments online during the 2012 presidential election.