By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Former President Kim Dae-jung expressed regret that a fact-finding body's probe result did not confirm then President Park Chung-hee's direct involvement in Kim's kidnapping in 1973, according to Kim's spokesman.
He said Kim would demand every detail of the case be verified.
Choi Kyung-hwan, Kim's aide, said Wednesday that Kim recognized the overall investigation by the National Intelligence Service's truth-finding committee. The committee said Park was likely to have given implicit approval to the kidnapping in Tokyo and the operation aimed at kidnapping, not killing.
But Choi said it is regretful that the committee came to such an indecisive conclusion despite having found facts that acknowledged Park's direct order of the abduction for the purpose of killing.
``The spy agency abducted Kim to kill him as Kim has claimed since he was released, and the top official who made the direction was the then president,'' Choi said in a written comment.
``As seen in the probe, the Japanese government, which gave up probing at that time although it secured evidence, and the Korean government, which attempted to cover up the case, made big mistakes. I express my regret over the two governments,'' he said.
Choi said that Kim has waited for 34 years for the truth to be verified and that he will continue to wait until the truth is completely clarified.
Hahn Seung-hun, head of a civic group for verification of Kim's abduction, said that the investigation was unsatisfactory and drew dubious conclusions, saying the Korean and Japanese governments should apologize to Kim and the Korean people.
Established in November 2004, the truth-finding committee has ended its investigation into seven major allegations, including Kim's kidnapping and the bombing of KAL 858 flight, and other human rights violation cases committed by the spy agency in the past.
The committee has revealed the truth about allegations involving the intelligence agency in many parts, disclosing the agency's faults and allowing victims to have their honor restored and get compensation from the state.
However, it had limits to verify every truth to the end, because some related figures were already dead, relevant documents were destroyed, and it did not have the right to forcibly question people if they refused to testify. The probe result does not bear legal weight,