By Jun Ji-hye
New National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Suh Hoon ordered the “immediate and complete” abolition of the spy agency’s domestic intelligence operations, Thursday.
Suh issued the order shortly after he was formally appointed by President Moon Jae-in following a National Assembly confirmation hearing the previous day.
Reforming the spy agency, which has long been suspected of meddling in domestic politics and elections, was one of the key campaign pledges of President Moon.
“Following the order from the new director, the NIS immediately stopped all activities of officers gathering information on government ministries, organizations and agencies, as well as media companies,” the NIS said in a press release.
Suh’s order was to stop the NIS’s intervention in domestic politics and elections, the agency said, quoting him as saying, “A zero tolerance principle will be applied to those who violate relevant rules and orders.”
During his confirmation hearings at the Assembly, Suh told lawmakers that he would re-investigate the NIS’s alleged smear campaign in which a group of NIS officers allegedly posted online comments favorable to then ruling Saenuri Party candidate Park Geun-hye and negative ones to then opposition candidate Moon in the 2012 presidential election.
The NIS noted that its new director also decided to launch a panel tasked with mulling ways to develop the agency in the mid- to long-term and enhancing its intelligence-gathering capabilities. The panel will consist of NIS staff as well as outside experts, it added.
While awarding an appointment certificate to Suh, Moon reaffirmed the need to reform the NIS, stressing that stopping its operations related to domestic politics should be a priority.
“Reform is always accompanied by pain,” Moon said. “But once the agency goes through that process, it will be reborn as an internationally well recognized agency.”
In response, Suh said he will faithfully carry out reform plans and pledges made to the public by the President.
“I will lead my staff well and definitely succeed in reforming the NIS,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Moon also appointed three NIS deputy directors, completing the leadership lineup of the agency. Seoul’s Ambassador to Pakistan Suh Dong-gu was appointed as the first deputy director, and Kim Joon-hwan, the former head of a regional NIS office, as second deputy director. Kim Sang-gyun, a former chief of the NIS’s North Korea strategy, was named third deputy director.