The National Assembly decided Tuesday to request the perusal and disclosure of the original version of a 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript containing late President Roh Moo-hyun’s controversial remarks on the West Sea boundary with North Korea.

The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic Party agreed they will request the National Archives of Korea to let them access the minutes, original transcript, voice recording and all other relevant documents to get to the bottom of the spiraling controversy over Roh’s remarks and authenticity of the version released by the National Intelligence Service last week.

The parties said their request was to “put an end to the acute split in public opinions by resolving all distortion of truth or dispute.”

The agreement was the latest development of the political brouhaha that has been escalating over the Saenuri Party’s claims that Roh had tried to annul the Northern Limit Line, while the DP questioned the authenticity of the NIS’ document and demanded to see the original account.

The motion, which requires approval of at least two-thirds of the Assembly, was passed 257-17 at a plenary session later in the afternoon.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the National Archives will agree to the Assembly’s request and to what extent.

Up until last minute, voices had differed among the DP members over the decision to view the original transcript.

Rep. Park Jie-won, for instance, who was former President Kim Dae-jung’s closest aides, had objected to the viewing of the transcript that he said should remain classified for the sake of not leaving an example of diplomatic faux-pas and in consideration of the inter-Korean relations that is at one of its lowest ebbs in recent months.

On the other hand, Rep. Moon Jae-in, who was Roh’s most entrusted aide, said last weekend he would leave politics if the conservatives’ claim against Roh’s remarks were true, arguing that full access to the original transcript was the only way to prove the truth.

The DP members eventually agreed to support the decision in order to “shed light on truth.”

The NIS version of the record showed that Roh said the NLL should be changed into a “peace and cooperation zone,” with the critics claiming that the late president made the remark with the intention of giving up the de-facto sea border.

Roh supporters have countered that the liberal president was not undermining the NLL but was trying to set up a mutual fishery zone over the western sea boundary.

The NLL was drawn unilaterally by the U.S.-led United Nations Command when the 1950-53 Korean War ended. The North has since argued that the line was invalid and that the boundary should be redrawn further south.

In other progress in the political tug-of-war, the rival parties agreed Tuesday on the overall plan to conduct the parliamentary investigation into allegations that the NIS attempted to sway public opinion in last year’s presidential election.

The special committee on the probe convened its first meeting and agreed on the scope, subjects and method of the investigation.

The session, however, has already faced gridlock over the details as well as over how some of the members should be excluded as they are directly linked to the investigation.

The action plan for the probe is to be completed and approved by July 10.

The probe, to be conducted for 45 days, is aimed at allegations that former NIS chief Won Sei-hoon ordered an online smear campaign in favor of President Park Geun-hye ahead of the December election.

The probe will also look into the Saenuri Party’s claims that the DP violated the human rights of an NIS employee allegedly involved in the smear campaign.

By Lee Joo-hee
(jhl@heraldcorp.com)