By Jun Ji-hye
The National Assembly will begin an investigation this week into allegations that the nation’s spy agency conducted surveillance on the public during the run-up to the presidential election in December, 2012.
The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) is set to launch an all-out offensive against the National Intelligence Service (NIS), while the ruling Saenuri Party intends to defend it, claiming that the opposition is jeopardizing national security.
The controversy involves the NIS’s purchase of the Remote Control System spyware, which can intercept signals from PCs and smartphones, manufactured by Italian tech firm, Hacking Team. Purchases of the spyware were made in January and July of 2012.
The fact-finding inquiry will begin Monday with sessions of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee, and the Future Planning, Science, Broadcasting and Communications Committee.
The rival parties are expected to clash during the Intelligence Committee session because the NIS is planning to report on an analysis of files that an intelligence officer surnamed Lim deleted before committing suicide on July 18. The spy agency said it has completely restored the deleted data.
However, the details of the analysis are expected to prompt more controversy because the largest opposition party is arguing that there is no way to prove that the NIS has restored all the deleted files.
The NPAD is questioning why Lim deleted them if the NIS did not spy on citizens.
Even if the NIS announces that the analysis of files shows no surveillance of the public, it is highly unlikely that the opposition will accept this.
The NPAD is demanding that the NIS submit all restored date as well as the log files of the hacking program so that it can analyze them independently.
But the Saenuri Party is opposed to this, citing a possible leak of confidential information. The governing party says that lawmakers can check such information only by visiting the NIS.
Rep. Shin Kyoung-min of the NPAD said, “Whether we can uncover the truth depends on the will of the ruling party. But the party is openly opposing the submission of the necessary files. The NIS is not saying anything about the log files and the record of its investigation into the agent’s death, either.”
The Future Planning, Science, Broadcasting and Communications Committee will discuss whether the NIS and Nanatech, a Korean communications company that brokered the agency’s purchase of spyware, violated the Protection of Communications Secrets Act, and the Information Communications Network Act, respectively.
Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning Choi Yang-hee and Baik Kee-seung, president of the Korea Internet Security Agency, will participate in the session.
The Security and Public Administration Committee will schedule its session within this week, while the Defense Committee is planning to meet around the middle of next month.
The Ministry of National Defense has also been under fire over its possible purchase of the same spyware that the NIS bought. The controversy came after it was learned that an Army lieutenant-colonel, who was working for the ministry’s task force on cyber security, met with an official of the Italian firm, and discussed the spyware he former visited Singapore between March 2 and 5.
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