Korean elders weigh in on ongoing NIS scandal

Prominent elderly members of South Korean civil society hold a press conference at the Press Center in central Seoul, Sep. 3. (by Park Jong-shik, staff photographer)

Senior members of society call on President Park to take responsibility and safeguard democracy

By Choi Yu-bin and Kim Hyo-sil, staff reporters

Prominent elderly South Koreans called on President Park Geun-hye to take responsible measures in regard to the National Intelligence Service’s (NIS) interference in last December’s presidential election. They are also asked for a fair investigation of charges that Unified Progressive Party (UPP) lawmaker Lee Seok-ki conspired to overthrow the government. At the same time, they insisted that the issue of Lee’s alleged insurrection must not be abused to manipulate public opinion.

Elders from various areas of society held a press conference at the Press Center in central Seoul on Sep. 3 where they emphatically stated that the NIS needs to be thoroughly reformed.

Participating in the conference were 82 veteran members of South Korean civil society, including Kang Man-gil, professor emeritus at Korea University; Kim Se-gyun, professor emeritus at Seoul National University; Baek Nak-cheong, professor emeritus at Seoul National University; Lim Heon-yeong, president of the Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities; Ji-seon, former chief monk at Baekyang Temple; Ham Se-ung, a long-serving Catholic priest; novelist Hwang Seok-yeong; Byeon Hyeong-yun, professor emeritus at Seoul National University; Shin In-ryung, former president of Ewha Womans University; and Oh Se-cheol, professor emeritus at Yonsei University.

The group of elders released a statement at the press conference titled “We have to save democracy from crisis.”

“If a government organization takes part in political scheming and meddling, it has committed an act that by its very nature denies the foundations of democracy,” the group said in its statement. “Nevertheless, President Park claims that she received no assistance from the NIS during the past election, maintaining her position that she isn’t connected to any of this.”

“NIS Director Nam Jae-joon exceeded the limits of his authority by meddling in politics with the arbitrary release of the 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript,” the group also said. “The first thing Park must do is replace Nam.”

The elders called upon Park to adopt a politics of communication, to implement campaign pledges including economic democratization and welfare policies, and to promote dialogue between the government and the ruling and opposition parties.

Regarding the investigation of UPP lawmaker Lee Seok-ki, the group said that the truth should be fully disclosed, but that this should not be used as a pretext for dismissing calls to reform the NIS. “If news reports are true, it is clear that the political figures involved have ventured far outside of the norms of Korean society,” the group said, while also reminding the government that there are concerns about the question of how laws are applied, concerns that are informed by historical experiences.

“If Lee Seok-ki was in fact guilty of conspiring to carry out an insurrection as charged, he must take responsibility for his actions as a politician, aside from questions of his legal guilt or innocence,” Baek Nam-cheong said. “He ought to provide an explanation of his basic beliefs as is expected of a lawmaker.”

“Regardless of the insurrection investigation, the full truth must be disclosed about the allegations that the NIS interfered with the presidential election,” Baek said. “Even if the NIS was right to investigate the conspiracy to carry out an insurrection, it must still answer for how its actions [interference in the presidential election] have undermined democracy.”

The group of elders agreed that the very fact that they had to step forward was a tragedy. Choi Young-do, a lawyer and former chair of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, said, “It is truly an unhappy day when elderly men and women have no choice but to come together because of their concerns for their country. We have saved democracy once before when it was on the verge of perishing in 1987. Since the final guardian of democracy is the people, this is our task.”

Also on Sep. 3, the Emergency Assembly of University Students for Resolving the Problem of the National Intelligence Service’s Interference in the Election announced that it had begun collecting signatures from university students across the country on Sep. 2, the beginning of the second university semester. The signatures are for a petition calling for a special prosecutor to be appointed to investigate the NIS’s political interference.

The assembly is planning to collect signatures through Sep. 28 and send them to the Blue House. The assembly was launched on Aug. 25 with the participation of the student bodies from eleven universities, including Konkuk University, Duksung Women’s University, Pusan National University, Seoul National University, Sungkonghoe University, and Sookmyung Women’s University.

　

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