The two main parties are at loggerheads again over allegations that former President Roh Moo-hyun conceded to North Korea on the Northern Limit Line, a de facto maritime border between the two Koreas.

A group of lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party on Thursday confirmed the claim after they viewed the minutes of the 2007 inter-Korean summit provided by the National Intelligence Service.

The opposition Democratic Party claimed they were distorting the facts in an attempt to avoid the brunt of criticism over the agency’s interference with the presidential election last year. Later in the day, the DP filed a lawsuit against NIS chief Nam Jae-joon and five Saenuri lawmakers who disclosed the minutes.

The controversy over Roh’s remarks was a hot campaign issue but subsided after the election. The ruling party rekindled the dispute claiming it has been proven that Roh denied the line’s validity.

To counter the ruling party’s move, Democratic Party chairman Rep. Kim Han-gil Friday called for full disclosure of the minutes of the summit. 

“The Democratic Party is of the opinion that the minutes of the summit as well as the unidentified copy could be fully disclosed,” Kim said at the party’s supreme council meeting.

“However, I stress that the parliamentary investigation on the NIS must be conducted first.”

In response, the Saenuri Party hit back saying that the two issues should not be linked and that the Democratic Party should not tamper with the public’s right to know and that it should apologize for denying the existence of Roh’s comment regarding the NLL.

The DP has also questioned the intentions of the NIS for revealing the documents only to ruling party members. As for its part, the NIS has since announced that all of the minutes of the summit could be opened for inspection if requested by the National Assembly.

“The NIS has gone even further, playing the old and faded record of NLL,” Rep. Jun Byung-hun said at Friday’s rally calling for the parliamentary investigation on NIS to be launched immediately.

“Even NLL-McCarthyism cannot bury the people’s demands for the truth, their voice to uphold democracy. The NLL (issue) is nothing but the dirty and dark hand that is trying to cover the sky.”

As for Rep. Moon Jae-in, who served as Roh’s presidential chief of staff and headed the inter-Korean summit organizing committee, reiterated his position that Roh made no such comments, calling for the documents to be fully revealed.

The former Democratic presidential candidate also pressed the NIS to step back from politics.

“(Recent developments) prove that the NIS has works for individuals’ gains to the point that there is nothing it will not do including election interference and political sabotage,” Moon said in a statement.

“I will fight beside the public until the NIS becomes upstanding. I call on the Saenuri Party to stop the attempts to thwart the parliamentary investigation and to cover the truth with lies.”

During his presidential campaign, Moon spoke out saying that he would personally take responsibility if the allegations were true.

Moon has also stressed during his presidential campaign last year that the minutes of the 2007 summit contain no such comment. In addition, Moon is reported to have reiterated his position to several Democratic Party officials including the party chairman in recent days.

The NIS’ alleged interference in last year’s presidential election has been a major issue in the National Assembly for some time with the DP calling for an immediate launch of a parliamentary investigation into the case.

The Saenuri Party has been stalling for time saying that a parliamentary investigation will only be launched once the prosecution’s investigation is closed.

On June 11, former Seoul police chief Kim Yong-pan and former National Intelligence Service chief Won Sei-hoon were indicted without detention on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act during last year’s presidential election.

Won is alleged to have ordered NIS agents to influence public opinion against Rep. Moon Jae-in, while Kim Yong-pan is suspected of downsizing the police investigation into the case.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)