HOT ISSUES FOR THE READERS WORLDWIDE: June 2013

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Les services de renseignement sud-coréens impliqués dans plusieurs scandales politiques

LE MONDE | 29.06.2013 à 10h05 • Mis à jour le 29.06.2013 à 11h24 |Philippe Mesmer

Manifestation d'étudiants pour la dissolution du service national de renseignement (NIS), le 21 juin à Séoul.

Séoul, envoyé spécial. Encadrées par un impressionnant dispositif policier, plusieurs centaines de personnes se rassemblent pacifiquement, chaque soir depuis le 25 juin, dans le quartier de Gwanghwamun, à deux pas de la mairie de Séoul. Chandelles à la main, elles s'en prennent au service national de renseignement (NIS) et à la présidente sud-coréenne, Park Geun-hye. Celle-ci aurait bénéficié du soutien du NIS pendant la campagne présidentielle de décembre 2012 et ferait tout pour étouffer l'affaire.

Le 14 juin, une enquête du parquet a reconnu la responsabilité du service, qui aurait mobilisé quelque 70 agents de sa cellule de "renseignements psychologiques" pour mener une campagne visant notamment à discréditer le rival de Mme Park, Moon Jae-in, du Parti démocrate (PD, progressiste). Conséquence de cette enquête, Won Sei-hoon, le directeur de ce service à l'époque, a été mis en examen.

Révélée dans les derniers jours de la campagne, l'affaire avait mobilisé les partisans de M. Moon sans empêcher Mme Park de l'emporter. Le parquet avait ouvert son enquête au mois de mars.

Les opposants à Mme Park, qui nie tout soutien du NIS, dénoncent également la réticence de la présidente à soutenir l'ouverture d'une enquête parlementaire, qui devrait finalement...

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Friday, June 28, 2013

Pro-Park lawmaker under fire over NLL

Rep. Kim Moo-sung, right, a ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker, pats Rep. Kim Jae-won of the same party on the back after accepting his apology regarding rumors of Rep. Kim Moo-sung over the NLL at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap

By Chung Min-uck

Rep. Kim Moo-sung, political heavyweight of the ruling Saenuri Party and close aide of President Park Geun-hye, came under fire, Friday, for allegedly acquiring the minutes of the 2007 inter-Korean summit before the Dec. 19 presidential election.

He is accused of illegally acquiring the confidential summit transcripts that contain late President Roh Moo-hyun’s controversial remarks on the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto western sea border between the two Koreas.

He is suspected of having used the minutes to launch a smear campaign against the then main opposition Democratic Party (DP) candidate Rep. Moon Jae-in.

Rep. Moon served as presidential chief of staff to the late President Roh. President Park defeated Rep. Moon in the presidential election by a slim margin of 3 percent.

Whether Roh really made concessions regarding the NLL during his talks with late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2007 was one of the major issues in last year’s presidential election.

Reportedly, Rep. Kim, during a meeting of senior Saenuri lawmakers earlier this week, said he was “surprised when reading the transcripts of the 2007 inter-Korean summit before the presidential election.”

Rep. Kim further said that he “asked then NIS chief Won Sei-hoon to disclose the transcripts but failed as Won refused to do so.”

The contents of the summit were classified until, on Monday, when the National Intelligence Service (NIS) disclosed the transcripts, saying it was compelled to do so in order to quell the ongoing parliamentary rows over the NLL.

The pro-Park political heavyweight denied the reports but suspicions persist.

“Rep. Kim’s statement made on Dec. 14 when campaigning for then presidential candidate Park Geun-hye is so similar to the original version of the transcripts,” said Rep. Park Beom-kye, a lawmaker of the DP, Thursday. “Rep. Kim must have read the original transcripts.”

The DP lawmaker further criticized President Park for allegedly manipulating the scheme.

“Throughout the presidential campaign, President Park raised issues about the NLL,” said the opposition lawmaker. “It is a violation of the election law.”

The DP is planning to indict Rep. Kim and Kwon Young-se, a close aide of President Park who is also accused of accessing the minutes before the presidential election.

Kwon is currently serving as ambassador to China.

Observers say the accusation will likely deal a blow to Rep. Kim who is hoping to become the next chairman of the Saenuri Party, backed by his strong connection with President Park.

Reflecting his clout in the party, Rep. Kim Jae-won, a Saenuri lawmaker, on Friday, in an unusual manner, offered an apology via text messages to the political heavyweight denying rumors that the former had leaked the latter's remarks on NLL to the media. His apologetic text message sent to Kim’s cell phone was made public by a photo journalist, embarrassing the two.

Meanwhile, in the written record, Roh was quoted as saying in a dialogue with the late Kim Jong-il that the NLL should be “changed” into a “peace and cooperation zone.”

Saenuri lawmakers have long argued that Roh tried to compromise the western sea border during the summit, although, it was known to the public after the disclosure that Roh never directly mentioned giving up the borderline.

muchung@koreatimes.co.kr

DP urges Park to apologize for Saenuri’s ‘spy agency ties’

Published : 2013-06-27 17:12
Updated : 2013-06-28 08:40

Democratic Party Chairman Kim Han-gil speaks during a general meeting of party lawmakers at the National Assembly in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap News)

The main opposition Democratic Party on Thursday urged President Park Geun-hye to apologize over allegations that her ruling Saenuri Party had received the transcript of the 2007 inter-Korean summit from the National Intelligence Agency last year while it was still classified.

“(Park) should apologize to the public as soon as she returns (from China) for the Saenuri Party’s political maneuvers during the presidential election,” DP Chairman Rep. Kim Han-gil said during a general meeting of party lawmakers.

Kim also demanded Park reveal the full account of “manipulative maneuvers” conducted by the ruling party and the spy agency, and punish those involved.

On Wednesday, DP lawmaker Park Beom-kye claimed Kwon Young-se, Seoul’s ambassador to Beijing, said the Saenuri Party was contemplating the disclosure of the summit minutes on Dec. 10, nine days before the presidential election.

“We have to talk about the NLL (Northern Limit Line). There is an NLL transcript,” Kwon, then-lawmaker of the Saenuri Party, was quoted as saying in a recording provided by Park. “Getting the document is not a problem, but there is a risk of side effects. It’s literally a contingency plan.”

If Park’s allegation is true, it would mean the Saenuri Party had obtained the document months before it was declassified by the NIS on Monday.

Rep. Moon Jae-in of the DP bashed the Saenuri Party later in the day, saying that “to wait for the right moment for disclosure is not (the actions of) a normal country.” He added that as a principle, important diplomatic files should not to be disclosed for at least 30 years.

The Saenuri Party, however, said that the recorded voice was not clear and therefore could not be identified as Kwon’s.

The recent disclosure of the document touched off a political row between the ruling and the opposition parties. The former argued then-president Roh Moo-hyun effectively gave up the country’s de facto sea border while the latter insisted there was no proof of him doing so.

North Korea on Thursday condemned the South for unilaterally releasing the transcript, saying the action marked “mockery of the dignity of its supreme leadership and a grave provocation to a dialogue partner.”

By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)