A ruling party lawmaker underwent questioning by prosecutors on Tuesday over suspicions that he illegally leaked a classified transcript of the inter-Korean summit at the center of a political controversy, officials said.

Rep. Suh Sang-ki of the ruling Saenuri Party, who also leads the country’s parliamentary intelligence committee, showed up at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in southern Seoul in the day after receiving the summons, according to the officials.

He was suspected of intentionally making public classified information by saying in June that he verified through a summit transcript kept at the intelligence agency that late President Roh Moo-hyun suggested giving up the western sea border, commonly called the Northern Limit Line, during talks with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

The transcript of the talks between Roh and Kim in 2007 has stirred fierce partisan strife, after the ruling party claimed that Roh disavowed the NLL, a de facto maritime border that the North has refused to acknowledge.

Following the minutes’ disclosure, the main opposition Democratic Party filed a suit against Suh and other ruling party lawmakers ― Rep. Kim Moo-sung and Chung Moon-hun ― prompting the prosecution investigation.

During the probe, Suh faced such questions as how he happened to view the classified document, whether he followed due protocols and what caused him to disclose the details of the summit, according to officials.

Last month, the prosecution summoned Kim and Chung as part of its ongoing investigation, and has been eyeing summoning the chief of the intelligence agency who also faces similar accusations, they added.

Apart from the version leaked by the lawmakers, the rival parties decided to fully divulge the summit minutes believed to have been kept at the national archives to calm the controversy.

But it found that the transcript was missing, which later turned out to have been due to two former aides to Roh who deleted it in the electronic archives and did not transfer it to the state archives at Roh’s instructions, according to the prosecution. (Yonhap News)