Urges president to clear up suspicions of attempt to conceal spying on civilian


The main opposition Democratic United Party on Tuesday demanded answers from President Lee Myung-bak regarding allegations that his lieutenants at Cheong Wa Dae directed illegal surveillance of a civilian and its cover-up.

“President Lee should take the case to himself and get to the bottom of all the suspicions surrounding his former staff,” Rep. Lee Yong-sub, the liberal party’s chief policymaker, said during a party meeting.

“Then, he should take due responsibility for what has happened.”

The party, trying to frame the April 11 legislative elections as a judgment on the conservative president and his ruling Saenuri Party, has equated the case to the Watergate scandal of the 1970s that ousted U.S. President Richard Nixon.

The heightened antagonism came as a key figure and whistleblower in the 2010 illegal surveillance scandal was questioned by prosecutors in an re-opened investigation Tuesday. 

Jang Jin-soo, one of the seven officials at the Prime Minister’s Office indicted in connection with the case, has claimed that the presidential office directed the illegal operation and its cover-up.

His latest allegation is that he received 50 million won from the Presidential Office’s civil affairs division in return for keeping mum.

Earlier he disclosed an audio recording purportedly of a dialogue between himself and Choi Jong-seok, a former labor affairs staff member at the presidential office. In the conversation, Choi apparently offers Jang cash and life-long support to dissuade him from revealing the truth.

“It looks like the cover-up attempt didn’t just involve the labor affairs division of Cheong Wa Dae. The civil affairs division, the president’s chief of staff, and the entire regime must have been behind it,” Rep. Lee said.

Yim Tae-hee, the chief of staff to the president at that time, was reported to have given an unknown amount of cash to families of two key figures in the scandal, other than Jang. Yim said the money was given purely out of sympathy.

Rep. Park Young-sun, another DUP leader, demanded the resignation of Justice Minister Kwon Jae-jin, who was in charge of the civil affair’s team at Cheong Wa Dae.

“We doubt whether the prosecution can unearth the whole truth, having Kwon as the justice minister,” she said.

The surveillance scandal erupted in 2010, entailing illegal spying by officials at the PMO on a businessman who posted video clips critical of President Lee Myung-bak on his blog in 2008. The PMO officials destroyed their computers before investigators searched their office.

The investigation was closed with the indictment of seven PMO officials, including Jang, despite speculation that officials in the presidential office were involved.

Lee In-kyu, head of the public ethics division at the PMO, and three of his staff received prison terms for illegal surveillance, while three others, including Jang, were convicted of destroying evidence.

Jang was sentenced to eight months in jail, suspended for two years.

By Lee Sun-young  (milaya@heraldcorp.com)