Prosecutors indicted former National Intelligence Service chief Won Sei-hoon without detention Friday on charges of meddling in last year’s presidential election.
Announcing the results of its two-month-long probe, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Won ordered his agents to put up online comments and express opinions on Internet posts over political issues.
Among 1,760 posts by the NIS agents with hundreds of fake IDs from Sep. 19 to Dec. 14 last year, 67 are confirmed to have violated the election law.
Of 67, three comments criticized then-presidential candidate Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party; 26 vilified Rep. Lee Jung-hee and the United Progressive Party; and three attacked Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, an independent.
“Former NIS chief Won, in his duty to counter psychological warfare schemes by North Korea, recognized even people or organizations whose policies or opinions are supported by pro-North Korean groups or North Korea as those supporting the North,” said the prosecutors’ office in its statement.
Former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Kim Yong-pan was also indicted on charges of violating election and police laws and abuse of authority. He was not detained.
According to the prosecutors’ office, Kim tried to pressure a police team at Suseo Police Station in southern Seoul investigating NIS agents last year to hurriedly announce an interim result days before the election, clearing the agents of charges of smear campaigning.
The district police said at the time that no evidence of political interference of the agents had been found.
The SMPA also tried to hide computer hard disks handed over by the police team in an attempt to conceal the case.
An NIS agent and a former agent who were involved in a revelation of inside information of the intelligence service were indicted without detention.
The prosecutors charged the current spy agent surnamed Jung for violating the laws on the agency and the election law, and the former agent surnamed Kim for violating the election law.
Jung handed over documents detailing directions of Won and personal information of NIS officials to Kim. The prosecution judged that the inside information was used in election campaigns of an opposition party.
Meanwhile, the prosecutors suspended the indictment of five NIS officials and a civilian who participated in and supported the online operations, considering that they were simply following Won’s directions.
Mobilized to run the online smear campaigns under a warfare psychological team of the NIS, the agents put up a number of comments online advocating government-led projects while vilifying opposition political figures in an attempt to sway public opinion in favor of the ruling Saenuri Party as well as of then-presidential candidate and current President Park Geun-hye.
Since they were directed by Won, the prosecutors decided not to indict them, according to the prosecutors’ office.
The prosecutors said that they would continue a separate probe into some Democratic Party officials who are accused of trapping an NIS agent within her residence on Dec. 11 while attempting to question her on the covert operations from outside.
By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)
Announcing the results of its two-month-long probe, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Won ordered his agents to put up online comments and express opinions on Internet posts over political issues.
Among 1,760 posts by the NIS agents with hundreds of fake IDs from Sep. 19 to Dec. 14 last year, 67 are confirmed to have violated the election law.
Of 67, three comments criticized then-presidential candidate Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party; 26 vilified Rep. Lee Jung-hee and the United Progressive Party; and three attacked Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, an independent.
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| Won Sei-hoon, former head of the National Intelligence Service, leaves the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office after questioning on April 30. (Yonhap News) |
“Former NIS chief Won, in his duty to counter psychological warfare schemes by North Korea, recognized even people or organizations whose policies or opinions are supported by pro-North Korean groups or North Korea as those supporting the North,” said the prosecutors’ office in its statement.
Former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Kim Yong-pan was also indicted on charges of violating election and police laws and abuse of authority. He was not detained.
According to the prosecutors’ office, Kim tried to pressure a police team at Suseo Police Station in southern Seoul investigating NIS agents last year to hurriedly announce an interim result days before the election, clearing the agents of charges of smear campaigning.
The district police said at the time that no evidence of political interference of the agents had been found.
The SMPA also tried to hide computer hard disks handed over by the police team in an attempt to conceal the case.
An NIS agent and a former agent who were involved in a revelation of inside information of the intelligence service were indicted without detention.
The prosecutors charged the current spy agent surnamed Jung for violating the laws on the agency and the election law, and the former agent surnamed Kim for violating the election law.
Jung handed over documents detailing directions of Won and personal information of NIS officials to Kim. The prosecution judged that the inside information was used in election campaigns of an opposition party.
Meanwhile, the prosecutors suspended the indictment of five NIS officials and a civilian who participated in and supported the online operations, considering that they were simply following Won’s directions.
Mobilized to run the online smear campaigns under a warfare psychological team of the NIS, the agents put up a number of comments online advocating government-led projects while vilifying opposition political figures in an attempt to sway public opinion in favor of the ruling Saenuri Party as well as of then-presidential candidate and current President Park Geun-hye.
Since they were directed by Won, the prosecutors decided not to indict them, according to the prosecutors’ office.
The prosecutors said that they would continue a separate probe into some Democratic Party officials who are accused of trapping an NIS agent within her residence on Dec. 11 while attempting to question her on the covert operations from outside.
By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)
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