Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Conservatives raise offensives over NIS chief's meeting with Moon's confidant
Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, speaks during a party meeting at the National Assembly, Tuesday. Yonhap
By Park Ji-won
By Park Ji-won
Conservative parties stepped up political offensives over a recent meeting between President Moon Jae-in's confidant Yang Jung-chul and National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Suh Hoon, Tuesday, wary of Suh's possible intervention in domestic politics.
Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), indicated the party may file a complaint against Suh with the prosecution, claiming he may have violated the NIS law by possibly sharing confidential information with Yang, chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) think tank Institute for Democracy. After their meeting was reported by an online media outlet, both Yang and Suh argued it was a private meeting among acquaintances without a political purpose.
The NIS law prohibits the spy chief from participating in any political activities.
“Suh has met with a key figure of the ruling camp. It is an apparent move for the spy chief to get involved in the upcoming general elections,” Na said during a party meeting Tuesday.
The move came after online media outlet The Fact reported Monday that Suh had a one-on-one meeting with Yang for several hours in a restaurant in Seoul on May 21. It did not specify what was discussed.
The report immediately sparked controversy in political circles over whether Suh's meeting with Yang was acceptable or not. The DPK and Yang have been claiming it was a private meeting while opposition parties have raised suspicions about Suh's possible intervention in domestic politics.
Yang, former public relations and press secretary for former President Roh Moo-hyun, as well as Moon's confidant, has been under the spotlight recently after he became the leader of the ruling party's think tank on May 14.
The media has been focused on the politician and his potential role in the upcoming April 2020 general elections amid speculation that he could set up the election team within the DPK think tank and support Moon's loyalists.
He is known to be running the election campaign for the DPK, as he did for Moon in the last presidential election campaign, but it is an unprecedented role for the head of the DPK think tank.
Adding to the LKP, Rep. Oh Shin-hwan, newly elected floor leader of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party (BMP), joined the criticism saying Suh may have intervened in domestic politics by meeting the chief of the ruling camp's election campaign at a critical time, and demanded an explanation from Suh. Rep. Lee Hye-hoon, head of the Assembly's Intelligence Committee, pledged to hold a committee meeting early as possible and summon Suh to ask him about the meeting.
Some DPK members also criticized Yang for making such a hasty decision to meet Suh as a confidant of Moon and the leader of the de facto election campaign for the DPK at a critical time when Yang just took a political post.
The progressive Justice Party and Party for Democracy Peace also criticized the meeting claiming, “If it turns out to be true, it is against the spirit of the candlelit revolution.”
Some LKP members held a street protest in front of the National Intelligence Service office in Seoul on Tuesday afternoon to criticize Suh for having such a meeting with Yang.
Cheong Wa Dae has declined to make an official comment on the matter for two consecutive days.