President Park Geun-hye on Monday ordered sweeping reform of the nation’s top spy agency amid intensifying political wrangling over its alleged election interference and the dispute over the 2007 inter-Korean summit.

“The National Intelligence Service has been subject to many disputes since the past governments. It is high time that the agency self-reform,” Park said in a meeting with senior secretaries.

The National Assembly has begun investigating the agency over its alleged interference in last year’s presidential election. Former NIS chief Won Sei-hoon was indicted last month on charges of ordering some of his agents to use the Internet to sway public opinion in favor of Park.

The NIS is also at the center of the high drama over former President Roh Moo-hyun’s remarks allegedly invalidating the Northern Limit Line, a de facto sea border in the West Sea, during talks with then-North Korea leader Kim Jong-il. It disclosed its transcript of the summit talks earlier this month as political parties wrangled over varying interpretations of Roh’s remarks. The disclosure led to the parties agreeing to look into the original transcript kept by the National Archives of Korea.

“It is regretful that six months after the presidential election, confusion continues to resurface,” Park said. “The purpose of the NIS is to serve for the security of the country and the people.”

Park said the NIS should prepare and accelerate its efforts to fortify its intelligence gathering activities on North Korea and protect the country from cyber terrorism and economic security.

This was the first mention of NIS reform by Park in recent months.

Following Park’s remarks, observers said NIS reform may take the direction of reducing its domestic politics division, such as by downsizing previous activities on gathering information through such government organizations as the National Assembly and ministries.

Throughout her presidential campaign, Park had underscored a need to reform the NIS to enhance its security-related intelligence operations and maintaining political neutrality.

Park’s designation of former four-star general Nam Jae-joon as NIS director was also widely perceived as her attempt to buttress the agency’s defense-related areas.

Park is also said to have been interested in gathering information on economic and industry situations of other countries as part of her push to enhance South Korea’s competitiveness in the global market.

While there are regulations and laws that prohibit the agency from overstepping political neutrality, the NIS’ political position has often been questioned in a prolonged ideological rivalry between the conservatives and the progressives.

“There is a need to clarify why there were such suspicions of (NIS’ alleged interference in the election) and what the truth is behind it,” Park said.

With regard to the NLL debate, Park reiterated her firm stance on the importance of the sea border, adding, “While it is regretful that controversy over the NLL ― which is the vital border that protects our land ― erupted in the first place, the political circles must use this as a chance to clearly affirm the determination to defend the NLL.”

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