Political conflict escalated between the rival political parties over the format of the special parliamentary probe into the nation’s spy agency Tuesday, following the withdrawal of two ruling party members from the team.

Saenuri Reps. Chung Moon-hun and Lee Cheol-woo said they were leaving the special committee due to the main opposition Democratic Party’s claim that their participation was inappropriate, and called on controversial DP members to follow suit.

The two parties had agreed last week to launch a 45-day parliamentary investigation into allegations that the National Intelligence Service meddled in the presidential election last year.

But the follow-up discussion had been snail-paced, as the parties remained deadlocked over the appropriateness of some of the members, as well as the scope of the investigation, list of witnesses and whether to disclose the questioning session to the public.

The two parties are scheduled to adopt a detailed investigation plan by Wednesday.

The probe is to look into allegations that former NIS chief Won Sei-hoon ordered an online smear campaign, and whether the DP mistreated and violated the human rights of an NIS employee accused of posting political comments.

The DP had opposed Chung and Lee’s participation in the probe, citing that Chung was one of the major figures behind a separate controversy over the 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript, and Lee is a former NIS member.

The Saenuri Party, for its part, has demanded DP Reps. Kim Hyun and Jin Sun-mee leave the committee as they are directly involved in the alleged harassment of the NIS member.

“We have decided to leave the special committee for a smooth operation of the probe and prevent unnecessary political dispute (led by the DP),” Lee said at a press conference. He added that Kim and Jin should leave as well.

The DP accused the Saenuri Party of playing political games.

“(Kim and Jin) have played a great role in digging into the truth behind the NIS’ illegal interference into the election. It can only be perceived as (the Saenuri Party’s) strategy to treat them the same as Chung and Lee,” said Rep. Jung Cheong-rae, who heads the DP’s side on the committee.

The DP, meanwhile, argues that the probe should include suspicions that the Saenuri Party illegally got hold of the inter-Korean summit transcript ahead of the presidential election as it is relevant to the NIS’ alleged political involvement. The Saenuri Party is adamantly opposed.

Some of the key members of President Park Geun-hye’s election team last year are suspected of learning about the classified contents of the summit talks between former President Roh Moo-hyun and then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Roh is accused of making comments disregarding the West Sea border at the time.

The controversy has led to the parties agreeing to peruse and disclose the original transcript kept by the National Archives of Korea. 

On Tuesday, deputy floor leaders agreed that five lawmakers from each of the parties look into the script and disclose limited parts of the content upon mutual agreement at parliamentary committee meetings.


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