Noose tightening around Kim Kwan-jin
By Yi Whan-woo
Kim Kwan-jin
The prosecution is widening its investigation into former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin’s alleged links to the military’s online smear campaigns during the 2012 general and presidential elections under President Lee Myung-bak.
Sources from the prosecution said Kim has been banned from leaving the country in connection with the investigation.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office reportedly have obtained documents showing Kim reported to Lee in 2012 about mobilizing the Cyber Warfare Command to post positive online comments about conservative candidates and negative ones about liberals.
Previously, Kim was excluded from the list of suspects as the probe centered on uncovering the National Intelligence Service’s (NIS) illegal meddling into the online campaign.
The prosecution previously decided that Kim did not receive any reports from the Cyber Warfare Command; but rather a team of its officials single-handedly decided to join the NIS in the online smear campaign.
“We’ve recently discovered evidence that Kim masterminded this politically-motivated sabotage,” a prosecutor said. “We also found that the military and Cheong Wa Dae worked closely in making this possible. We believe former President Lee can possibly be a target in the near future.”
The prosecution said Kim’s signature was found on documents it obtained related to the smear campaign.
It also said the documents had the letter “v” regarding the chain of command that received the report about the online campaign.
“We believe the letter ‘v’ meant the word ‘VIP,” which commonly refers to the president,” an investigator said. “It leads us to thinking that Kim directly reported to Lee on the matter.”
The prosecution said it separately obtained a recording of a call between former Cyber Warfare Command director Ok Do-kyung and Lee Tae-ha, former head of the psychological operations division at the command.
Recorded in 2014, the call was about Lee Tae-hee complaining and asking for Ok’s help when he was about to face charges from the military prosecution for “cyber operations carried out by the Ministry of National Defense.”
Lee complained about taking the blame after following orders from Kim.
Ok was given a suspended jail term while Lee was sentenced to 18 months in prison later.
“We recently questioned Lee, who testified that everything he said was true. We also questioned Ok over the background concerning their telephone conversation.”
In a separate revelation, Rep. Rhee Cheol-hee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said he has documents showing President Lee ordering the Cyber Warfare Command to increase its use of civilian workers.
Even if Kim successfully defends himself over the allegation, he still faces another charge of corruption concerning the next-generation fighter procurement project, according to legal sources.
Kim was serving as the National Security Office (NSO) chief under President Park Geun-hye in 2014 when the country abruptly changed its plan to purchase Boeing’s F-15 Silent Eagle to the F-35 stealth fighter from Lockheed Martin.
Other dubious military contracts, such as one involving the Navy salvage ship Tongyeong took place when Kim was either the defense minister or NSO chief.