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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Group to UN: Probe South Korean Election

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2013/05/15/south-korean-civil-group-petitions-u-n-to-investigate-the-election-fraud-scandal/


South Korean civil rights group Fight For Voters’ Rights (FFVR) filed a petition to the United Nations requesting them to investigate suspected election fraud. A series of investigations into South Korean spy agency's illegal involvement in the latest presidential election are still underway in the country. 


유권자 권리를 소중히 여기는 사람들의 모임(유권소)에서 정식으로 유엔청원서를 접수했습니다 .
이를 위해 미국 시카고에서 뉴욕으로 날아가신 유권소 공동대표님과 뉴욕 회원님들의 감동적인 모습을 모았습니다.


<유엔청원 접수 후기입니다.>

[유엔에 가다]

"내 조국 대한민국이라는 나라는 도대체 어떻게 되어 먹은 나라란 말인가? 과연 이대로 저들을 용납해야 줘야 한단 말인가?"
한민족의 수치 독재자 박정희의 딸 박근혜가 이명박과 함께 그들의 추종세력들을 총동원해, 국가권력을 악용하여 온 국민과 지구촌을 상대로 조직적이고 지능적으로 총체적인 부정불법을 저지르며 나라살림을 강탈한 대한민국의 18대 대통령 선거!

총칼만 안 들었을 뿐 부정불법 날강도들을 바라볼 수 뿐이 없었던 나는 치를 떨며 수치와 분노로 눈물도 차마 흘리지 못하고 날밤을 세우던 어느날, 나는 운명적으로 "유권자의 권리를 소중히 여기는 사람들의 모임 (이하 유권소)" 이라는 인터넷 공간을 알게 됐고, 그곳에서 한숨 쉬는 자들과 함께 한숨 쉴 수 있었고, 슬퍼하는 자들과 함께 맘껏 울 수 있었고, 짓밟힌 자들과 함께 분노할 수 있으면서 나는 차츰 나에게 주어진 역사적인 소명을 깨달아 갔다.

"유엔청원!!."
제니퍼 유권소 대표님께 부탁을 드렸다. 
"저를 꼭 유엔에 보내주십시요! 고종의 헤이그 밀사의 심정으로, 민주를 갈망하는 모든 유권자들의 염원을 담은 소중한 청원서를 제 손으로 꼭 전달하고 싶습니다!"
혹자는 물어본다. 
"왜 부끄러운 집안 일을 바깥으로 가져가려 하느냐?" 고 말이다.
나는 대답한다. 
"집안의 문제를 집안에서 해결할 수 없다면 법원으로 가져가야 하듯이, 나라 문제를 나라 안에서 해결할 수 없도록 꽁꽁 묶고 있는데, 당연히 나라 문제를 다뤄주는 유엔으로 가져가야하지 않겠나?" 라고 말이다.
혹자는 비아냥 거린다. 
"왜 외국에 나가 사는 해외 동포들이 내정간섭이냐?" 고 말이다.
나는 말한다. 
"세상의 어느 나라가 남의 나라 사람들에게 참정권을 주느냐? 대한민국은 해외동포들에게도 참정권을 주고 있다는 것을 모르느냐?" 라고 말이다.

"유권소 유엔청원 특수임무팀"
온 지구촌에 퍼져 사는 민주를 갈망하는 전문가들이 가정일과 사회일을 뒤로 미뤄둔채 서로의 시간대를 가리지 않고 인간의 한계를 넘나드는 고생들이 시작됐다. 
무려 3개월 동안을...
그리고 그들의 고생들과 흘린 땀에 보답이라도 하는듯, 유권소 회원들을 위시로 온 지구촌에서 서명들이 끊임없이 이어졌다.

"2013년 5월 D-day"
처음엔 유엔청원 D-day가 4월 중순 쯤이 되지 않을까 예측해 보았다. 
그러나 계속 쏟아지는 제보와 엄청난 자료들의 검증진행의 속도로 보아서는 4월 말경도 빠듯할듯 싶어, 박근혜씨의 방문일정에 맞춰 D-day를 결정하기로 했다.

그러나 법률자문팀의 꼼꼼한 검증 결과, 이미 대외적으로도 그리고 헌법상으로도 부정불법이 명백한 국정원 문제를 더 보완하자는 결정에, 그렇다면 긁어 부스럼이 될 수도 있고 오히려 박근혜씨에게 시간만 벌게 해주는 유리한 상황이 전개될 지도 모를 전자개표 부정불법 건을 청원서에 넣을 것인가? 뺄 것인가? 넣는다면 어느 선까지 다룰 것인가? 로 실무진들의 고뇌의 나날 속에, 이러다가는 일년에 3차례 있는 유엔회의 날짜에 못 맞추겠다 싶어, 법률자문팀의 검증이 끝나는 날로 부터 "무조건 14일을 D-day" 로 정하고선, 유엔청원 실무진들이 최종점검에만 매어달릴 수 있도록, 주변의 사소한 것들을 다 끊게 했고, 공동대표들 중 제니퍼 대표가 마지막 청원서 제작에 돌입했다.

"D-day 새벽 3시!"
일찍 주무시라는 제니퍼 대표의 연락에 잠을 일찍 청했지만, 페이스북, 아고라, 트윗 등 주류 언론들에서는 도무지 나눌 수 없었던 부정불법대선 이야기를 안타까운 마음으로 나눴던 수많은 민주들의 헌신과 염원이 담긴 유엔청원서를 어루만지며, "정말 내가 유엔에 가는건가?!" 라는 감격에 목이 메어 잠을 이루지 못하고 누워만 있는데, 알람이 울린다. 거의 뜬눈으로 밤을 지새운것이다.
전날, 뉴욕의 날씨 상황을 봤었는데, 오늘 비가 온다고 했기에, 걱정스런 마음으로 다시금 날씨를 점검하는데, 다행히 뉴욕의 날씨가 풀렸다.

그동안 짬짬이 제작했던 시위용품들을 차에 싣고선, 잠시 마음을 고르는 시간을 가졌다. 
이럴 때, 종교인들은 그들의 방식대로 도움을 청하겠구나 싶었지만, "하늘은 스스로 돕는 자를 돕는다"라는 옛 어른들의 
깨달음을 상기하며, 내 자신을 돌아봤다.

"내 자신도 감동시키지 못할만큼 성실하지도 않은 자의 감동을 옆의 사람이 알 리가 없고, 이웃도 모르는 감동에 하늘도 알 리가 없는데, 어찌 하늘이 돕겠는가? JohnNara! 너는 지금 감동하고 있는가? 너의 조국이 꼭 좋은나라가 되리라 기대하는가?" 
가슴이 뜨거워지며 꼭 다문 입술이 떨리고 눈물이 주르륵 흐른다.







"드디어 뉴욕!"
뉴욕 공항에서 다른 지역에서 오신 유권소 회원들과 인사를 나누며, 그들과 눈빛을 나눈다. 
좋은 학벌, 좋은 일터를 가지고, 아무 걱정없이 자기 만의 삶을 꾸려간들 누가 뭐라 할 사람 없음에도, 우리가 왜 이래야만 하나? 하는 고뇌가 비난 우리들 만의 것일까? 
약한 자와 함께 울어주고 싶은 강한 자의 마음을 저들에게서 본다.
먼저, 첫 시위장소로 '윤창중' 문제로 곤경에 처한 한국 총영사관을 택했다. 
피켓을 들었더니, 경비원이 제지를 하길래, 유권소 회원 중 한분이 '함께 시위하자! 사진 좀 찍어달라' 제의하며 서로 웃으면서 부드럽게 상황을 넘겼다.
유엔이 바라보이는 지점 도로상에 사람들이 꽤 있어 보여서, 그곳에서도 시위피켓을 들었다. 
지나가는 관광객들이 (그중 한국인도 꽤 있었다) 우리들을 사진에 담기 바빴다. 
"그래, 많이들 찍어가서 대한민국 18대 대선이 부정불법선거였다는 것을 온 지구촌에 알려주거라!"
"유권소 유엔선언문 낭독!"
유엔청사 안으로 입장해서 다시금 피켓을 들려고 하는데 경비원들이 좌악 모여서 우리를 제지한다. 
법을 어겨가면서까지 하고 싶지는 않아 그들의 제지에 따르기로 하고, 사진 몇장을 찍고는, 곧바로 유권소 유엔선언문 낭독에 들어갔다.
"나 아니면 돼, 내 알바 아냐"
낭독 중에 들리는 낯익은 한국말.. 그래 한국말이었다. 
그러나 그들은 우리를 그냥 지나친다. 
어느 국민은 시위를 하는데, 정부는 그런 국민과 전쟁을 한다. 
그리고 어느 국민은 그런 그들을 "나 아니면 돼, 내 알바 아냐" 하며 방관한다.
























"밤 11시"
유엔청원 준비위원장이신 * 박사님이 공항까지 나오셔서, "수고하셨다"며 따스하게 맞이해 주신다. 
이 말은 전화로 하셔도 될텐데..., 
무려 4시간을 운전해 오셔서, 한국사에 길이 남을 유엔청원을 마치고 돌아온 내 손을 처음으로 붙잡은 주인공이 되셨다. 

또다시 4시간을 운전해서 귀가하셔야 할 *박사님의 뒷 모습에서 나는 진정한 보수의 모습을 본다.
"진정한 보수란?"
사람, 생명, 정의, 평화, 사랑 등의 존귀한 가치를 지키려 애를 쓰는 것이다. 

진정한 정치란? 
바로 그런 사람들이 골고루 잘 어울려 살아갈 수 있도록 하기 위한 장치이다.
이념이나 종교 보다 사람이 먼저이다! 
소수 기득권 집단의 이익이 아닌 바로 사람이 희망이다!
(끝)



유권자 권리를 소중히 여기는 사람들의 모임(유권소) 유엔청원서를 접수! 
그 감동의 뒷 얘기들을 모아 국민티비에서 방송을 합니다. 

*** 방송안내 : 5월 15일 오전 7시.  [이슈인터뷰] UN청원서 낸 ‘유권소’ 제니퍼 리 대표 (5/15)


이곳부터 먼저...

* 18대 대선 부정선거 진상규명을 위해 유엔에 청원서 접수를 해야만 하는 우리의 입장

유권소는 18대 대선을 마치고 선거 결과에 대해 의문을 갖고 있는 해외 동포들을 중심으로 페이스북내의 친구들이 만든 모임입니다.

유권소는 대한민국 18대 대통령 선거가 국가기관인 국정원이 공권력을 동원하여 조직적으로 선거에 개입하고 선관위는 정치적 중립을 어기며 치룬 선거이기에 국정원법과 공직선거법을 위반한 명백한 불법부정 선거라고 규정하며 경찰도, 검찰도 현정부의 제도권 하에서는 중립적이고 객관적인 수사를 할 수 없다라는 판단 하에 이 문제를 유엔에 도움을 청하기로 결정하고 지난 서너 달에 걸쳐 이와 관계된 자료를 모으고 정리하며 유엔 청원서를 준비해 왔습니다.

이에 앞서 저희 유권소는 대선이 끝난 이후 지금까지 선관위의 불공정성과 위법사실, 불법선거단체인 십알단과 국정원이 개입된 총체적인 불법부정선거의 실상을 알리고 대한민국 국민의 빼앗긴 주권을 되찾기 위해서 한국과 해외언론에 무려 8차례에 걸쳐 성명서를 발표하였고 제18대 대선의 부정불법 사례들을 모아서, 뉴욕타임즈, 야후, CNN 을 비롯한 수많은 해외 언론에 이를 알려왔습니다.

저희 유권소의 제보로 인하여 뉴욕타임즈 등 전 세계 230 여개가 넘는 언론사들이 국정원이 개입한 부정불법선거에 대해 관심을 갖게 되었으며 국내 언론의 의도적인 무관심과 일방적인 편파보도와는 전혀 다른 정확한 분석으로 뉴스가 올라오고 있습니다. 

그러나 2013년 1월 중순 제3차 성명서를 발표할 즈음엔 최첨단의 국가 정보 기관을 동원해서 국민들 심리까지 조작하려한 파렴치한 범죄를 지켜보면서도 침묵하는 언론과 외면하는 야당의 대응에 그 어떤 수단으로도 국정원이 개입한 희대의 부정불법선거의 진상규명이 불가능하다고 판단하였습니다.

유권소가 부정선거 진상규명을 유엔에 청원하기로 결정하자 전세계 곳곳에 살고 있는 유권자들이 자진하여 이 일에 협조를 해 주셨으며 뛰어난 전문가들의 지원을 받아, 엄청난 자료를 수집하고 면밀한 법률 검토를 거쳐, 드디어 오늘 유엔에 청원서 접수를 하게 된 것입니다.

이태리와 프랑스등 유럽의 해외 언론의 국정원기사에도 나와있듯이 대한민국의 부정관권선거가 자행될 수 있었던 원인으로 이명박 정권하에서 이루어진 언론장악을 최우선 원인으로 보고 있습니다. 정부 각 기관장들을 친 정부인사들로 임명하여 언론과 모든 국가기관을 장악한 결과라고 보도했습니다. 

따라서 저희 유권소는 전세계 인권을 중시하는 유엔에 위와 같은 국내 정치 상황과 언론의 편파성으로 진실이 가려지는 암울한 국내정치 실상을 알리며 유엔의 도움으로 대한민국에서 벌어진 부정불법선거의 진상이 낱낱히 밝혀지고 잃어버린 주권을 다시 찾으며 대한민국에 올바른 민주주의와 선거 정의가 바로 세워지기만을 바라고 있습니다.

끝으로 유권소가 UN에 청원하는 취지와 의도를 잘 이해해 주시기를 바라며 부정불법선거의 진상을 밝히는 길에 여러분들께서도 적극 동참해 주시기를 바랍니다.

2013. 5. 14

유권자 권리를 소중히 여기는 사람들의 모임






사진 설명 및 추신 / 지난 석 달동안 유권소가 준비한 유엔청원서 입니다.  
(CD등 영상은 별도로 제작되어 따로 준비했습니다.)
대한민국 역사에 길이 남을, 역사적으로 엄청난 이 일을 위해 저 역시 직접 뉴욕으로 가서 함께 참여를 하려고 했으나 혹시라도 모를 누군가의 방해공작을 위해 특사님과 몇몇 분들이 이 일을 대신 해 주시기로 했습니다. 이 서류는 이미 특사님께 전달이 되었습니다. 접수를 마친 후기는 이곳에 다시 알려 드리겠습니다.



Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Spies Caught in Website Scandal Embarrass SKorea



I




Internet postings ostensibly from ordinary South Koreans, but actually from National Intelligence Service agents, allegedly boosted President Park Geun-hye while she was running for the job as the ruling party's nominee. She was reportedly dubbed "the best," while her opponent, in a play on his name, was called "criminal."
A police investigation conducted before the December election found no wrongdoing, but now police say at least two agents violated the law and the original investigation is itself being examined.
Dozens of Internet comments, or more, may not have affected an election that Park won by a million votes, but they have damaged public trust in a spy agency that already had a dubious record.
The agency was founded in 1961 by Park's father, longtime dictator Park Chung-hee. Agents detained, tortured and even allegedly killed his political opponents. After Park was killed in 1979 — by his spy chief, ironically enough — other abuses occurred under his successors.
South Korea Troubled Spies.JPEG
In recent years, however, criticism of the NIS has centered on what it has failed to do — namely, come up with much intelligence about North Korea. It learned about Kim Jong Il's death in December 2011 two days after it occurred, when Pyongyang's state TV announced it.
The Internet comments scandal captured headlines in South Korean media late last month, when state prosecutors summoned the agency's former director, Won Sei-hoon, and raided its Seoul headquarters. Reports recalled the unfortunate fates of predecessors who ended up being arrested, imprisoned or even killed.
"The prosecution will mobilize all its capabilities to swiftly and thoroughly get the truth of the case," Prosecutor-general Chae Dong-Wook said in a meeting with top prosecution officials Tuesday, according to his office. "This case should be investigated in a way not to have any lingering suspicion."
The scandal flared about one week before the Dec. 19 election. Liberal opposition members camped outside the apartment of an NIS officer allegedly involved in illicit online campaigning, based on a tip from another agent. The officer locked herself in the apartment for two days, then came out — wearing a mask and a baseball cap to conceal her identity — to let police confiscate her computers.
The incident triggered a last-minute election debate over whether the NIS illegally engaged in politics, or whether the opposition party harassed an innocent woman.
Three days before the election, police announced the results of their initial investigation by clearing the officer of any wrongdoing, giving Park's camp a source of criticism on her main rival, Democratic Party candidate Moon Jae-in.
Kwon Eun Hee, a police officer who headed the initial investigation, recently told The Associated Press and other media that her bosses inappropriately interfered in the probe by pressing her team to drastically decrease the number of search words they would use in analyzing the NIS officer's computer hard disk, in an apparent effort to announce the investigation results before the presidential election.

Monday, May 13, 2013

SKorean spies accused of boosting ruling party on Internet chip at agency's credibility


SKorean spies accused of boosting ruling party on Internet chip at agency's credibility

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- The scandal shaking up South Korea's main spy agency is not cloak-and-dagger , but the kind of low-grade trickery anyone with an Internet connection could pull off. And the target was not Seoul's opaque rival to the north, but the country's own people.
Internet postings ostensibly from ordinary South Koreans, but actually from National Intelligence Service agents, allegedly boosted President Park Geun-hye while she was running for the job as the ruling party's nominee. She was reportedly dubbed "the best," while her opponent, in a play on his name, was called "criminal."

A police investigation conducted before the December election found no wrongdoing, but now police say at least two agents violated the law and the original investigation is itself being examined.
Dozens of Internet comments, or more, may not have affected an election that Park won by a million votes, but they have damaged public trust in a spy agency that already had a dubious record.
The agency was founded in 1961 by Park's father, longtime dictator Park Chung-hee. Agents detained, tortured and even allegedly killed his political opponents. After Park was killed in 1979 - by his spy chief, ironically enough - other abuses occurred under his successors.

In recent years, however, criticism of the NIS has centered on what it has failed to do - namely, come up with much intelligence about North Korea. It learned about Kim Jong Il's death in December 2011 two days after it occurred, when Pyongyang's state TV announced it.

The Internet comments scandal captured headlines in South Korean media late last month, when state prosecutors summoned the agency's former director, Won Sei-hoon, and raided its Seoul headquarters. Reports recalled the unfortunate fates of predecessors who ended up being arrested, imprisoned or even killed.

"The prosecution will mobilize all its capabilities to swiftly and thoroughly get the truth of the case," Prosecutor-general Chae Dong-Wook said in a meeting with top prosecution officials Tuesday, according to his office. "This case should be investigated in a way not to have any lingering suspicion."

The scandal flared about one week before the Dec. 19 election. Liberal opposition members camped outside the apartment of an NIS officer allegedly involved in illicit online campaigning, based on a tip from another agent. The officer locked herself in the apartment for two days, then came out - wearing a mask and a baseball cap to conceal her identity - to let police confiscate her computers.
The incident triggered a last-minute election debate over whether the NIS illegally engaged in politics, or whether the opposition party harassed an innocent woman.

Three days before the election, police announced the results of their initial investigation by clearing the officer of any wrongdoing, giving Park's camp a source of criticism on her main rival, Democratic Party candidate Moon Jae-in.

Kwon Eun Hee, a police officer who headed the initial investigation, recently told The Associated Press and other media that her bosses inappropriately interfered in the probe by pressing her team to drastically decrease the number of search words they would use in analyzing the NIS officer's computer hard disk, in an apparent effort to announce the investigation results before the presidential election.

Top police officers have denied Kwon's claim, saying there was no attempt to cover up the truth about the case, according to the National Police Agency.

Police said last month they've found that at least two agents and an ordinary citizen, who was allegedly in collusion with them, posted 100 comments on at least two websites in violation of a law banning the NIS from engaging in domestic politics. Police subsequently requested that prosecutors indict all three people, one of whom is the agent the opposition had accused before the election.

One of the websites is the online forum "Today Humor," which had more than 950,000 unique visitors last month, according to Nielsen KoreanClick.

Police found that the agents didn't violate the election law because they weren't influential enough to sway the election's outcome, as they only supported government policies and projects rather than directly criticizing Moon.

One of the comments disclosed by police praised Park's predecessor and fellow ruling party member Lee Myung-bak for making many overseas trips: "President Lee Myung-bak will make a five-day trip to Indonesia and Thailand from tomorrow. This will be his 48th overseas trip and it is overwhelmingly the largest-ever (among South Korean presidents). He is really great."

Democratic Party officials agreed the comments didn't have straightforward, bold criticism on Moon but rather tried to derogate him and support Park by slightly tweaking the spelling of their names. For instance, in their postings they called Moon Jae-in "Moon Joein," which means "Moon, the criminal," while calling Park Geun-hye "Geun-hye, jjang," which means "Geun-hye, the best," according to party officials.
The NIS has defended itself, saying the two agents were only engaged in missions to cope with North Korea's cyberwarfare by posting comments countering messages praising the North's system and spreading groundless rumors about South Korean government policies.
Opposition lawmakers and activists suspect a broader, systemic operation than has been revealed so far, involving a far larger number of NIS agents.

A nonprofit organization called Lawyers for a Democratic Society conducted an independent investigation and said NIS agents also tried to vote down posts unfavorable to Park at Today Humor, which selects the daily top comments based on votes from users.
At least four individuals created 73 IDs at the Today Humor forum since August and cast more than 1,100 votes against the posts that depicted Park unfavorably, according to Park Jumin, an attorney of the organization. They collectively expressed opposition to the posts that depicted Moon favorably, he said.

Critics attacked what they see as an attempt to affect the election, and said the work had little to do with the spy agency's job.

"How much effort had been needed to make the spy agency commit itself to its main duty? What's happening now is like having backtracked in those efforts," said Lee Cheol-hee, head of the private Doomun Political Strategy Institute in Seoul. "It's a very serious matter."
"They did something that they shouldn't do .... while little achievement on one of its main duties - North Korea intelligence - are seen," said analyst Paik Hak-soon at Sejong Institute in South Korea. "Unless it places its priority on something, that cannot help being neglected."

The NIS has been criticized for failing to learn of Kim Jong Il's death before Pyongyang announced, and for failing to predict the North Korean shelling of a South Korean island that killed four people in 2010. According to a lawmaker who attended a closed door parliamentary committee meeting, Won told lawmakers his agency had intercepted North Korean communication indicating such an attack two months before the strike, but he thought it was routine rhetoric.

In May 2011, the NIS reportedly gave an inaccurate briefing to the presidential Blue House saying Kim's son Kim Jong Un had taken a trip to China, then was slow in correcting itself to say it was Kim Jong Il making the trip, even after South Korean media picked up on the story. Kim Jong Un is North Korea's current leader.

Critics say a key reason for those alleged intelligence blunders was that former President Lee gave top NIS posts to close associates who had little intelligence expertise. Won, the former director, spent most of his career in Seoul city government.

In a recent statement, the NIS said no intelligence agency in the world knew about Kim Jong Il's death before the North's state media announced it, and that the deaths of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and Chinese leader Mao Zedong became known in similar fashion. In the case of Kim Jong Il's 2011 China trip, the agency said it was aware that the senior Kim was solely traveling, but that it didn't do anything for about the inaccurate reports because it had to protect its source of the information and was considering ties with China.

Park Geun-hye has not been accused of wrongdoing in the Internet postings scandal.
Her father was not her only predecessor to use the spy agency to meddle in politics.
Under the government of President Kim Dae-jung, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and a longtime opposition leader who was kidnapped by the elder Park's agents in 1973, spy agents wiretapped the phone conversations of high-ranking officials. Two of Kim's spy masters were later convicted over the scandal and received suspended prison terms.

Some South Korean intelligence chiefs suffered worse fates. Park Chung-hee's former spy director Kim Hyung-wook, who had criticized his authoritarian leadership, mysteriously disappeared in France in 1979. In 2005, a government fact-finding commission said he had been assassinated by Eastern Europeans hired by the spy agency. Kim Jae-kyu, the spy chief who gunned down Park Chung-hee during an October 1979 drinking party, was hanged the following year.
---
AP writer Youkyung Lee contributed to this report.

SKorean spies accused of boosting ruling party on Internet chip at agency’s credibility


SKorean spies accused of boosting ruling party on Internet chip at agency’s credibility

(Yonhap, Im Hun-jung/ Associated Press ) - In this photo taken on Tuesday, April 30, 2013, former National Intelligence Service director Won Sei-hoon, center, leaves Supreme Prosecutors’ Office after being summoned, in Seoul, South Korea. The scandal shaking up South Korea’s main spy agency is not cloak-and-dagger stuff, but the kind of low-grade trickery anyone with an Internet connection could pull off. And the target was not Seoul’s opaque rival to the north, but the country’s own people. Internet postings ostensibly from ordinary South Koreas, but actually from National Intelligence Service agents, allegedly boosted President Park Geun-hye while she was running for the job as the ruling party’s nominee. She was reportedly dubbed “the best,” while her opponent, in a play on his name, was called “criminal.”
SEOUL, South Korea — The scandal shaking up South Korea’s main spy agency is not cloak-and-dagger stuff, but the kind of low-grade trickery anyone with an Internet connection could pull off. And the target was not Seoul’s opaque rival to the north, but the country’s own people.
Internet postings ostensibly from ordinary South Koreans, but actually from National Intelligence Service agents, allegedly boosted President Park Geun-hye while she was running for the job as the ruling party’s nominee. She was reportedly dubbed “the best,” while her opponent, in a play on his name, was called “criminal.”
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A police investigation conducted before the December election found no wrongdoing, but now police say at least two agents violated the law and the original investigation is itself being examined.
Dozens of Internet comments, or more, may not have affected an election that Park won by a million votes, but they have damaged public trust in a spy agency that already had a dubious record.
The agency was founded in 1961 by Park’s father, longtime dictator Park Chung-hee. Agents detained, tortured and even allegedly killed his political opponents. After Park was killed in 1979 — by his spy chief, ironically enough — other abuses occurred under his successors.
In recent years, however, criticism of the NIS has centered on what it has failed to do — namely, come up with much intelligence about North Korea. It learned about Kim Jong Il’s death in December 2011 two days after it occurred, when Pyongyang’s state TV announced it.
The Internet comments scandal captured headlines in South Korean media late last month, when state prosecutors summoned the agency’s former director, Won Sei-hoon, and raided its Seoul headquarters. Reports recalled the unfortunate fates of predecessors who ended up being arrested, imprisoned or even killed.
“The prosecution will mobilize all its capabilities to swiftly and thoroughly get the truth of the case,” Prosecutor-general Chae Dong-Wook said in a meeting with top prosecution officials Tuesday, according to his office. “This case should be investigated in a way not to have any lingering suspicion.”
The scandal flared about one week before the Dec. 19 election. Liberal opposition members camped outside the apartment of an NIS officer allegedly involved in illicit online campaigning, based on a tip from another agent. The officer locked herself in the apartment for two days, then came out — wearing a mask and a baseball cap to conceal her identity — to let police confiscate her computers.
The incident triggered a last-minute election debate over whether the NIS illegally engaged in politics, or whether the opposition party harassed an innocent woman.
Three days before the election, police announced the results of their initial investigation by clearing the officer of any wrongdoing, giving Park’s camp a source of criticism on her main rival, Democratic Party candidate Moon Jae-in.
Kwon Eun Hee, a police officer who headed the initial investigation, recently told The Associated Press and other media that her bosses inappropriately interfered in the probe by pressing her team to drastically decrease the number of search words they would use in analyzing the NIS officer’s computer hard disk, in an apparent effort to announce the investigation results before the presidential election.