Ex-spy chief grilled over political meddling

Former top spy Won Sei-hoon / Yonhap

Noose tightening on Lee Myung-bak

By Lee Kyung-min

Former top spy Won Sei-hoon was questioned, Tuesday, over an allegation he orchestrated systematic efforts to intervene in a wide range of political affairs under the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration.

Lee is facing an increasing chance of questioning depending on statements from Won, his former right-hand man, about whether he regularly briefed the former president on his intelligence activities.

Investigators from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office escorted Won, who is serving a prison term, to the office at 1:53 p.m.

Won, the former head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), wearing a navy blue suit and covering his face with a mask, entered the building without answering questions from reporters.

This is a separate investigation from an earlier one in which Won was convicted of orchestrating cyberwarfare to meddle in the 2012 presidential election to help conservative candidate Park Geun-hye beat her major opponent Moon Jae-in.

Won was sentenced to four years in prison last month and his two deputies including Min Byung-joo, former head of the NIS psychological warfare unit, were sentenced to 30-month prison terms suspended for four years.

The prosecution decided to pursue this case last week following the recommendation of the NIS in-house reform task force which concluded the NIS engaged in political maneuvering under Won’s leadership.

The task force said the NIS carried out measures to attack Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, suppress and fire liberal cultural figures, control broadcasters and attack judicial figures.

He was questioned over allegations he operated 46 extra-departmental teams comprised of civilians to engage in activities that could influence public opinion on socially and politically divisive issues. He is believed to have spent 7 billion won ($6.1 billion) in state funds in the process.

Min, who was arrested again last week after the Seoul Central District Court issued a warrant for him, admitted to all charges made by the prosecution.

The task force also found that Won strengthened the manpower and resources of the psychological warfare unit to increase attacks on politicians and professors who openly criticized Lee and his flagship state initiative _ the Four Rivers Refurbishment Project.

Those who worked for the “operation” posted online comments on opinion boards at portal sites. The attacks targeted any figures, regardless of their political orientations. More concentrated efforts were devoted in the lead up to general and presidential election campaign periods.

The prosecution searched the homes of two former NIS officials, Monday, who they believe were involved in creating and managing a blacklist based on which dissident figures were subject to numerous unjust measures including being moved to different departments or relocated to offices in rural regions.

The two, the prosecution said, were also involved in outlining measures to initiate and increase political attacks against Mayor Park, a known liberal.

Park has already filed a complaint with the prosecution against Lee and 10 others on charges of defamation, obstruction of justice and abuse of authority, on behalf of himself and the city.

The complaint followed the conclusion made by the task force that the spy agency wrote a document to “suppress Park Won-soon,” based on the NIS officials who led systematic efforts to criticize Park online and organize rallies against him.

Actor Moon Sung-keun also filed a complaint against Lee, Monday, on charges of coercion, obstruction of business and violating the NIS Law that bans its officials from engaging in any activity that could influence the outcome of politically divisive issues.

Moon was among two movie stars alongside actress Kim Yeo-jin whom Lee deemed “unruly” as their calls to unify the voices against the then-ruling conservative party ahead of the upcoming 2012 general election had gained increasing traction with the public.

The NIS task force found that some of its officials under Won’s leadership digitally manipulated a photo in which Moon and Kim were shown lying naked together to make it look like they were having an affair. They distributed the manipulated photo on a conservative online community to undercut the two.

Meanwhile, a former producer at MBC, one of the two broadcasters Lee sought to control alongside KBS, appeared before the prosecution, Tuesday, to give statements about allegations he was among many who were “punished” for criticizing Lee.

“If figures involved claim the NIS or presidential press secretary did what they did without any direction from the top, it is a lie with an unprecedented level of falsehood,” said Choi Seung-ho. “Lee should be held accountable for all this.”

Choi, who produced and aired a documentary criticizing the Four Rivers Refurbishment Project in 2010, was fired in 2011 for participating in a company-wide strike, which he claimed was a pretext to remove the critical voices within the firm. He now works as a producer and anchor at Newstapa.