By Chung Min-uck
The dispute over the transcript of the 2007 Inter-Korean Summit is deepening even after the prosecution announced the result of its four-month investigation into allegations surrounding the records.
The ruling Saenuri Party, citing the latest prosecutor's announcement that the late President Roh Moo-hyun ordered the deletion of the transcript, ratcheted up its criticism against the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), Sunday.
"The DP should immediately apologize for scrapping the transcript," said Saenuri Party spokeswoman Min Hyun-joo. "Particularly, Rep. Moon Jae-in and other pro-Roh figures who worked at Cheong Wa Dae when the incident occurred must be ashamed of their wrongdoing and stop right away their irresponsible act of criticizing the ruling party."
The party further pressed Rep. Moon, the DP's former presidential candidate who was previously Roh's presidential chief of staff, to take political responsibility and resign.
Countering this, the DP said the investigation produced no evidence that Roh had made any remarks to the effect of negotiating the West Sea border with North Korea ― the Northern Limit Line (NLL) ― and that Saenuri Party lawmakers who earlier claimed the late president said this must step down.
"It was revealed via the investigation that the late Roh never made comments on giving up the NLL," said DP spokesman Park Yong-jin. "The Saenuri Party must dismiss its lawmakers who made false claims, and take collective responsibility for instigating the people and defaming the late Roh's honor."
The prosecutors confirmed that, after restoring the original transcript, it was found that former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il used the description of "giving up" the NLL during the summit, not Roh.
The DP also argued that Roh had only ordered corrections not a deletion.
Meanwhile, Roh's presidential secretary for security policy Cho Myoung-gyun who has been charged with making the changes to the document and deleting the first draft of the summit records said Sunday that he was never "instructed" by the late president to delete the transcript.
Observers say the prosecutor's announcement has only contributed to increasing the political battle between the rival parties and the wrangling is likely to continue for some time.
The transcript of the summit talks between Roh and Kim has raised political controversy after the ruling Saenuri Party claimed ahead of last year's presidential election that the former President had offered to surrender the NLL during the meeting.
The transcript was found to be missing in July when the ruling and main opposition parties jointly searched the National Archives of Korea (NAK) to locate the file to settle the dispute, raising allegations that Roh had ordered it to be erased due to his sensitive comments.
The dispute over the transcript of the 2007 Inter-Korean Summit is deepening even after the prosecution announced the result of its four-month investigation into allegations surrounding the records.
The ruling Saenuri Party, citing the latest prosecutor's announcement that the late President Roh Moo-hyun ordered the deletion of the transcript, ratcheted up its criticism against the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), Sunday.
"The DP should immediately apologize for scrapping the transcript," said Saenuri Party spokeswoman Min Hyun-joo. "Particularly, Rep. Moon Jae-in and other pro-Roh figures who worked at Cheong Wa Dae when the incident occurred must be ashamed of their wrongdoing and stop right away their irresponsible act of criticizing the ruling party."
The party further pressed Rep. Moon, the DP's former presidential candidate who was previously Roh's presidential chief of staff, to take political responsibility and resign.
Countering this, the DP said the investigation produced no evidence that Roh had made any remarks to the effect of negotiating the West Sea border with North Korea ― the Northern Limit Line (NLL) ― and that Saenuri Party lawmakers who earlier claimed the late president said this must step down.
"It was revealed via the investigation that the late Roh never made comments on giving up the NLL," said DP spokesman Park Yong-jin. "The Saenuri Party must dismiss its lawmakers who made false claims, and take collective responsibility for instigating the people and defaming the late Roh's honor."
The prosecutors confirmed that, after restoring the original transcript, it was found that former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il used the description of "giving up" the NLL during the summit, not Roh.
The DP also argued that Roh had only ordered corrections not a deletion.
Meanwhile, Roh's presidential secretary for security policy Cho Myoung-gyun who has been charged with making the changes to the document and deleting the first draft of the summit records said Sunday that he was never "instructed" by the late president to delete the transcript.
Observers say the prosecutor's announcement has only contributed to increasing the political battle between the rival parties and the wrangling is likely to continue for some time.
The transcript of the summit talks between Roh and Kim has raised political controversy after the ruling Saenuri Party claimed ahead of last year's presidential election that the former President had offered to surrender the NLL during the meeting.
The transcript was found to be missing in July when the ruling and main opposition parties jointly searched the National Archives of Korea (NAK) to locate the file to settle the dispute, raising allegations that Roh had ordered it to be erased due to his sensitive comments.
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