ed Spy chief must leave

Korea’s spymasters, who often work for their bosses more than for their country, have a hard time when political power changes hands. Nam Jae-joon, the incumbent director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), will likely be a rare spy chief facing such adversity in the middle of an administration’s term in office. To avoid that fate, he ought to step down right away.

The NIS under Nam’s leadership has hindered prosecutors’ probes into its agents’ intervention in the 2012 presidential election by discrediting opposition candidates in cyberspace; disclosed classified records from the 2007 inter-Korean summit to water down the election scandal; and fabricated evidence to jail a North Korean defector-turned-spy suspect.

So the state spy agency shook, willfully and systematically, the nation’s democratic foundation, first by smearing its most important political institution of voting, and later by messing up its judiciary process by trying to deceive prosecutors and judges.

If the army general-turned-spy chief was involved in these wrongdoings in any way, he must be punished. If not, he still cannot stay on the job because of his negligence and incompetence as a supervisor.

Nam’s nickname of “perennial cadet” (of the Korean Military Academy) provides a glimpse into his characteristics. Viewed favorably, it reflects his unchanged passion, and his principled and unyielding way of handling things. From a negative viewpoint, it could demonstrate his alienation and amateurism. Unfortunately, those who have known him in and outside of the NIS say Nam’s yearlong stint as the spymaster has been marked by such negative opinions.

Such simplistic and short-sighted push and drive, when mixed with the wrong political faith, brings about disastrous results for his boss and the nation.

Yes, there were times when the Korean Central Intelligence Agency used to manipulate election results, and “manufactured” North Korean spies with forged evidence and/or through torture, for the security of power elite, not the nation as a whole. Koreans have thought those were the long-gone stories of former President Park Chung-hee and successive military rulers. The last thing this country needs is a revival of the nightmarish practices under an administration led by another Park, the strongman’s daughter.

The beleaguered spymaster should tender his resignation for the sake of his boss and the nation’s democracy. This is also the only and last way to save his honor as the one-time soldier full of military spirit. Otherwise, President Park must order a thorough investigation into the NIS and its head, and hold anyone involved in these scandals accountable, morally and legally.

When President Park Geun-hye said her most important political mentor was her father, Koreans thought that referred to the elder Park’s economic achievement, not his destruction of democracy.

It is true South Korea confronts one of the world’s most unpredictable and dangerous regimes. But Seoul can win over the dictatorial dynasty in Pyongyang only through enhancing its democratic republic system, not weakening it.