Probe into ex-President Lee-created blacklist widening

By Lee Kyung-min

Two spy agency officials are facing arrest over allegations they carried out orders to sway online public opinion to benefit former President Lee Myung-bak.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office sought the arrest warrants, Wednesday, for a mid-level National Intelligence Service (NIS) psychological warfare team manager surnamed Yoo and his deputy surnamed Seo.

The two digitally manipulated a photo which showed two liberal film stars lying naked together, in a bid to undercut their growing political advocacy against Lee.

The two officials face charges of defamation and violating the NIS Law that bans its workers from engaging in any activity that could influence the outcome of a politically divisive issue.

They are the first incumbent officials for whom arrest warrants have been sought, which the prosecution deems necessary given the gravity of the implications of their actions as intelligence agency officers.

The prosecution said the two digitally manipulated the photos of actor Moon Sung-keun and actress Kim Yeo-jin in May 2011 to make it look like they were having an affair. They distributed it on a conservative online community in October that year.

They did so, the prosecution said, to undercut Moon Sung-keun, whose growing calls to unify the voices against the then-ruling conservative party ahead of the upcoming 2012 general election were gaining increasing traction with the public.

Kim at the time drew commendations from the liberal voters following her vocal advocacy for improving the rights of irregular workers including cleaning crews at universities.

She also publicly criticized Lee and his administration during a nationally televised debate in 2011 for failing to offer exemplary, moral leadership expected of the highest public officials in the county.

Kim held a one-man protest at Gwanghwamun Square demanding that Lee deliver his campaign pledge to cut university tuition fees by half.

Earlier on Tuesday, the former head of the NIS psychological warfare unit, Min Byung-joo, the superior of the two officials, was arrested on charges of incurring a loss of state funds and perjury.

Min was one of the two former high-ranking NIS officials sentenced to 30-month prison terms suspended for four years, last month, for orchestrating cyberwarfare to meddle in the 2012 presidential election, alongside Won Sei-hoon, who was sentenced to four years on the same charge.

Min was alleged to have used government funds to pay people who wrote malicious comments online against Moon and ones in favor of then-conservative candidate Park Geun-hye.

Meanwhile, the warrants for Yoo and Seo were sought two days after actor Moon Sung-keun demanded Lee be questioned over allegations that the NIS created a blacklist of artists under his direction.

Moon said the spy agency created the blacklist to control the media and cultural figures critical of Lee or supportive of former President Roh Moo-hyun, an allegation backed by findings of the NIS in-house task force a week earlier.

The task force concluded that the list had the names of 82 cultural figures Lee deemed left-leaning and who were then subject to various career disadvantages.

It was used to “punish” them by having their contracts canceled and their earnings audited, and investigations launched on any agencies or groups that had business with them.

Comedian and radio talk show host Kim Mi-hwa, whose name was on the list, and Kim Yeo-jin were also called in to give statements to the prosecution. All three demanded harsh punishment for the figures involved.

The prosecution is also looking into allegations that the Lee administration created and managed a “whitelist” of pro-state figures.

Moon earlier urged the prosecution to investigate this allegation saying he believed a lot of taxpayer money must have been wasted in financing right-wing civic groups.

Meanwhile, the prosecution imposed a travel ban on Kim Joo-sung, the second-in-command after former NIS chief Won Sei-hoon.

Kim, who is believed to have created the blacklist, is known for his close relationship with Lee’s older brother Lee Sang-deuk, a five-term former lawmaker.

He became a vice president at KOLON Group, headed by Lee Sang-deuk.

Kim also was made president at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in 2005 when Lee Myung-bak was Seoul City mayor, triggering allegations that he was parachuted in at the recommendation of Lee Sang-deuk.

A similar allegation resurfaced when Kim, who never had any related experience in gathering intelligence, was appointed to a high-ranking NIS post in March 2008 soon after Lee was inaugurated as President.