By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
Cheong Wa Dae said it will review whether to accept the resignation tendered by National Intelligence Service (NIS) director Kim Man-bak, who leaked state information.
``We will handle the personnel issue for the spy chief after conducting a full review about backgrounds,'' presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon told reporters Thursday.
``If it is apparent that Kim violated the law, we will not hesitate to accept the resignation,'' he said. ``But there are differences of opinion among experts whether the information leaked by Kim is really critical-level as regards state confidentiality.''
Saying that Kim's term will expire soon when President Roh Moo-hyun's tenure ends Feb. 25, Cheon stressed, ``The important issue is how we deal with the issue (based on political concerns) rather than when or whether we accept his offer.''
Regarding the possible investigation of the NIS chief by the prosecution, he said the prosecution will continue to investigate along the same lines as it had done before.
On Tuesday, Cheon said Roh will soon accept his resignation. ``He should have made public the full details of his suspicious North Korea visit instead of providing the sensitive documents containing his conversation in Pyongyang to a few media outlets.''
Kim offered to resign Tuesday, amid mounting criticism over leaking classified documents detailing a conversation between himself and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Yang-gon.
The conservative Grand National Party (GNP) and President-elect Lee Myung-bak's transition committee called on the prosecution to start an immediate investigation into the case.
In his conversation with Kim Yang-gon a day before the Dec. 19 presidential election, a confidant of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the NIS chief was quoted as saying that Lee would inherit Roh's North Korea policies.