The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic Party once again butted heads over former President Roh Moo-hyun’s remarks during the 2007 inter-Korean summit, after the National Intelligence Service delivered the full records to lawmakers on Monday.

The contents of his remarks on the Northern Limit Line have been a hot political issue here following the ruling Saenuri Party’s accusations that Roh denied the validity of the Northern Limit Line in the West Sea during the meeting with late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

“Although the parliamentary Intelligence Committee viewed the excerpts on June 20, allegations that the NLL statement has been manipulated are still being raised. And both the ruling and opposition parties are strongly demanding that the records be revealed in full,” the NIS said in a statement explaining its decision to open the records.

“The content of the South-North summit six years ago were deemed not to have a major influence on national security. On the contrary, it was considered that the argument over the authenticity of it (the content) would bring adverse effects on national security.”

Although both the Saenuri Party and DP had called for the records to be revealed in full, the DP refused to receive the NIS’ documents, citing legal issues.

In contrast, the ruling party accepted the documents from the spy agency, but held back from revealing its contents in full, saying that the party hopes to carry out such actions with the DP.

The NIS records revealed Monday include the minutes of the 2007 summit, said to be more than 100 pages, and the eight-page long excerpt that reignited the issue on Thursday.

The allegation, which was first raised in the run up to last year’s presidential election, resurfaced last week when Rep. Suh Sang-kee of the ruling party viewed excerpts from the records and claimed that the allegations have been proven true.

Suh and his fellow Saenuri Party lawmakers’ actions incited strong criticism from the opposition bloc, and the main opposition Democratic Party accused the ruling party of trying to “water down” the investigation into the NIS’ election interference.

The DP responded to the development by calling for all records to be disclosed in full, provided that the promised parliamentary probe into the NIS’ role in last year’s election is conducted first. The DP also filed criminal complaints against Suh and four other ruling party lawmakers and NIS chief Nam Jae-joon.

The prosecution has since begun looking into the charges.

In a related investigation, the prosecution concluded that Rep. Chung Moon-hun, who first raised the allegation in October, had not violated laws regarding presidential archives. He argued that the transcript of the summit was public, not presidential, record.

In addition, the investigators also dropped the charge of spreading false information, saying Chung’s claims could not be viewed as false.

While the ruling party ― which has been accused of using the so-called NLL statement as a means to put off the parliamentary probe ― welcomed Monday’s development, the DP hit back by raising legal issues, saying that the NIS’ decision was “an act that rises above the law.”

Rep. Moon Jae-in, the DP’s former presidential candidate and one of Roh’s closest aides, said he will bring the spy agency to answer for its actions in accordance with the law. Moon also served as the chief of the organizing committee for the 2007 summit.

“The NIS made the transcript using the recording provided by and according to directions from Cheong Wa Dae, and it kept a copy when reporting back to the presidential office,” Moon wrote on his Twitter account. He also wrote that the process of NIS’ records being compiled constitutes the documents as presidential archives.

“For treating the transcripts as something other than presidential records, I will make (the NIS) take responsibility under the law.”

Although Moon and DP officials including its chairman Rep. Kim Han-gil called for the records of the summit to be revealed in full, the opposition had said that it will cooperate with related actions only if the parliamentary probe into the NIS regarding the spy agency’s election interference is conducted first.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)