By Jun Ji-hye
The National Assembly Special Committee agreed to question the former head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the former chief of Seoul police chief as part of its investigation into an illegal intervention by the NIS in the 2012 presidential election, according to local reports Sunday.
Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the ruling Saenuri Party and Rep. Jung Cheong-rae of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), both vice chairmen of the committee, made the decision because former NIS chief Won Sei-hoon and former Seoul police chief Kim Yong-pan are already included within the scope of the investigation that the two parties previously agreed to.
Won and Kim were both indicted for violating the Election Law in June. According to the prosecution, Won ordered his agents to conduct an undercover cyber campaign to discredit opposition candidates during the presidential election, and Kim ordered polices to downscale the investigation.
The committee also agreed to question Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the present NIS head Nam Jae-joon and the National Police Agency head Lee Sung-han.
“The parties plan to announce the list of names to be questioned today after a final check by the vice chairmen,” said an Assembly official.
However, the rival parties still show differences over whether aides of former President Lee Myung-bak should be questioned or not. The DP insists they should be, while the Saenuri Party is opposed to it.
The DP also demanded a session at which the NIS will give situation reports be open to the media, while the ruling party is calling for a closed meeting.
The key issues that the rival parties want to handle at the probe differ too. The DP wants to focus on the NIS’s election meddling as the major issue to be investigated, while the ruling party wants to pursue the violation of an NIS agent’s human rights by two DP legislators who attempted to prevent her from leaving her residence last December.