[Editorial] Now time for an investigation into how the NIS rigged the election

Won Sei-hoon was taken into custody after an appeals court found him guilty of violating the Public Official Election Act and the National Intelligence Service Act. During his tenure as director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), Won mobilized the agency to make posts on social media that supported certain candidates in the 2012 presidential election, and criticized others.

The appeals court‘s ruling is noteworthy since it convicted Won of violating the Public Official Election Act, a charge that had been dismissed by the lower court. In a word, the South Korean judiciary has acknowledged that a state institution interfered in the 2012 presidential election.

Considering the scope of the NIS’s online activities that have come to light thus far, the court was entirely justified in its decision.

The ruling reached by the lower court was contradictory. Won had ordered the NIS’s psychological warfare division to write posts online supporting specific political parties and politicians and opposing others, the court acknowledged, and this constituted political activity, which is forbidden by the National Intelligence Service Act. However, the evidence did not show this online activity to have been calculated and aggressive enough to regard it as election campaigning, the lower court said.

However, the appeals court drew attention to the close connection between the content and the timing of the online posts and political developments in South Korea. For example, after Aug. 20, 2012, when Park Geun-hye was confirmed as the presidential candidate for the Saenuri Party (NFP), there was a sharp increase in posts criticizing opposition candidates. This connection in and of itself constituted election campaigning, the court found.

Aside from the legal issues, there were also significant differences in how the two rulings assessed the facts. The lower court only admitted 175 NIS Twitter accounts and around 110,000 tweets as evidence in the case, but the appeals court increased this total to 716 Twitter accounts and 274,800 tweets. That is to say, the appeals court understood the NIS’s social media activities to have been a wider-ranging and more organized operation. This activity, it can be inferred, was extensive enough to have influenced the outcome of the election itself.

This case has now taken on far too much significance to be simply regarded as a matter of online comments. A more accurate way to frame the issue is as the NIS rigging the election.

This can no longer be seen as aberrant and anachronistic behavior by the NIS director and a few agents, who were trying to meddle in politics. The court has concluded that this was a much more serious crime: the distortion of the process by which voters make political decisions, which is to say, an election.

In the words of the appeals court, there is no avoiding the “fundamental criticism that representative democracy has been damaged.”

Consequently, the political legitimacy of the Park administration is now open to debate. While it would be impossible to calculate the exact extent to which the NIS’s online operations affected the results of the election, it is clear that the procedural legitimacy of the electoral process - which is the basic source of democratic power - has been shaken. In order to prevent the chaos that could ensue and to restore public faith in democracy, it is necessary to thoroughly investigate how the NIS rigged the election.

Up to this point, the prosecutors have had their hands full just tracking down the minimum evidence needed to make the charges stick, in the teeth of obstruction - both implied and overt - from the Blue House and the NIS.

There are a number of questions that must still be asked, however. What was Won’s motive for committing these crimes? Was Park aware of this during her candidacy?

If Park has a clear conscience, she should have no reason to stonewall such an investigation.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

　

Household income lagging behind economic growth, recent data show

Data from Statistics Korea and the Bank of Korea showing increases in household income (the dark gray line), real economic growth (medium gray line) and real consumer spending growth (light gray line) in 2008, 2011 and 2014. The graph shows how income growth consistently lags behind real economic growth, as does real consumer spending growth.

The economy is growing, but growth in wages aren’t keeping up, leading to uneven distribution of wealth

2014 witnessed the continuation of “undistributed low growth,” in which the real rate of increase in household income fell short of the economic growth rate. With households cutting their spending as income growth slows to a crawl, the consumption tendency (the ratio of consumer spending to disposable income) fell to its lowest level ever.

In order to keep this economic pattern from taking hold, the South Korean government needs to craft policies that can activate the virtuous cycle of economic growth, growth in household income, increased spending, and economic growth, experts say.

According to the results of a study by Statistics Korea on household trends, published on Feb. 13, the average monthly income in 2014 for households of two or more people was 4.3 million won (US$3,917), a 3.4% increase year on year. In terms of real income, which takes into account the inflation rate, this represents a 2.1% increase.

Compared to 2013, when the rate of increase of real income hovered around 0%, the household income situation has improved, but it is still much lower than the economic growth rate. The estimated real economic growth rate for 2014 was 3.3%, more than 1 percentage point higher than the household income growth rate.

What this means is that the household income is not increasing fast enough to keep up with economic growth, a phenomenon that became noticeable in the previous decade.

Last year, Park Jong-gyu, a senior analyst for the Korea Institute of Finance (KIF), argued that the slow growth of household income is linked to the fact that wages are not keeping up with improving productivity, coming up with the concept of “wage-free growth.”

The consumer spending growth rate was much lower than the income growth rate. Average monthly consumer spending per household last year was 2.55 million won (US$2,323), just a 2.8% increase from the previous year. The real consumer spending growth rate was 1.5%.

With household consumption increasing more slowly than household income, the average monthly household surplus amount and surplus rate were 946,800 won (US$862) and 27.1%, the highest levels since the government started tracking these figures in 2003. This reflects the extent to which households are tightening their belts.

As a result, the average consumption tendency set a new low, dropping 0.4 percentage points from the previous year to 72.9%.

The statistics show a modest decrease in income equality. For the first quintile - the lowest 20% of wage earners - income went up by 5.6%, higher than the average (3.4%), as well as all other quintiles. As a result, the income of the fifth quintile, or the top 20%, surpassed the income of the bottom 20% by a factor of 4.45 in 2014, the lowest level since 2004.

One major factor appears to have been the basic pension system, which took effect in July of last year. The system, which disburses up to 200,000 won (US$182) a month to elderly people (65 years and older) in the lowest 70% income bracket, was expected to help increase the average income for low wage earners. South Korea is characterized by a high rate of poverty among the elderly.

“We need to reinforce the virtuous cycle in which growth in household income leads to more spending. More specifically, we are planning to develop productivity indices for each industry to strengthen the connection between wages and productivity. We will also keep encouraging companies in the private sector to voluntarily raise wages by incrementally raising the minimum wage,” said Ju Hwan-uk, chief of strategic planning for the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

By Kim Kyung-rok, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

"박근혜 대통령, 당신의 대통령직은 유효합니까?"ㅣ정청래 최고위원02/10

"박근혜 대통령, 당신의 대통령직은 유효합니까?"ㅣ정청래 최고위원02/10

http://youtu.be/dDpOVajZ8Vo

"박근혜 대통령, 당신의 대통령직은 유효합니까?"ㅣ정청래 최고위원02/10

이 영상의 저작권은 뉴스300에 있습니다. 본 영상물은 '소스코드' 배포만 허용 합니다. 뉴스300 TVhttp://www.news300.kr6. 정청래 의원 (2015. 02. 10. 14:26) (1) "박근혜 대통령, 당신의 대통령직은...

YOUTUBE.COM

Former Spy Chief in South Korea Sentenced in Election Case

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/world/asia/former-spy-chief-in-south-korea-sentenced-in-election-case.html?_r=0
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JEJU, South Korea — In a political blow to President Park Geun-hye, a South Korean appeals court on Monday convicted a former government intelligence chief on charges of intervening in the 2012 vote that elected her president.

The former intelligence chief, Won Sei-hoon, was arrested at the Seoul High Court and taken to jail after the court sentenced him to three years in prison.

The court did not comment on whether Mr. Won’s intervention helped Ms. Park get elected. But it said that agents from the government’s National Intelligence Service, under Mr. Won’s instruction, began an online smear campaign against Ms. Park’s political rivals ahead of the December 2012 vote, often depicting the rivals as North Korean sympathizers.

Ms. Park defeated her main opponent, Moon Jae-in, by a margin of 3.5 percentage points or roughly one million votes. Some opposition politicians have insisted that the spy agency’s online smear campaign undermined the legitimacy of her victory by illegally swaying votes in her favor, although they have not officially claimed that it should be nullified.

“The accused used the valuable function and organization of the National Intelligence Service in opposing specific political parties and politicians,” Justice Kim Sang-hwan said in his ruling. “The state agency directly intervened in online forums, systematically spreading opinions on key election issues while pretending to be ordinary citizens.”

The court also sentenced two former subordinates of Mr. Won to up to one and a half years in prison on similar charges. But their sentences were suspended.

“What I did was for the nation and for the people,” Mr. Won told reporters on Monday.

In September, a lower court convicted Mr. Won of violating laws that banned public servants from meddling in politics but acquitted him of the more politically sensitive charge of intervening in a presidential election. At the time, he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, but his sentence was suspended.

Neither Ms. Park’s office nor the intelligence agency commented on the verdict on Monday, which overturned the lower court’s decision.

Ms. Park has said that she did not order or benefit from the spy agency’s election-year Internet activities. For its part, the agency has denied trying to discredit opposition politicians, saying that its online messages were part of a legitimate psychological warfare campaign against pro-North Korean content.

The court ruling on Monday came a day after Mr. Moon was elected as head of the main opposition party, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy.

On Monday, his party called on former President Lee Myung-bak, under whose government Mr. Won served as spy chief, to apologize for the scandal.

Ms. Park’s governing Saenuri Party reminded the opposition that the case still had to be reviewed by the Supreme Court, and warned against “a wasteful debate” over the legitimacy of the 2012 election results.

Prosecutors indicted Mr. Won in June, saying that a secret team of National Intelligence Service agents had posted numerous messages on Twitter and other online forums to sway public opinion in favor of Ms. Park and her conservative governing party ahead of the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2012.

Continue reading the main story

Continue reading the main story

Many of the messages merely lauded government policies, but many others ridiculed liberal critics of the government and of Ms. Park, including her rivals in the presidential election.

On Monday, the appeals court said that spy agents’ online comments meddling in the election sharply increased after Ms. Park won the governing party’s presidential nomination in August 2012.

On Twitter, the agents called Ms. Park “the only answer” to North Korean threats, praising her “solid and right views on national security,” the court said. In contrast, they derided Mr. Moon as “an ex-convict” for being arrested for protesting the military dictatorship in the 1970s. They also called him “childish” and said that there was “zero chance” he would carry out campaign promises.

The intelligence agency was created to spy on North Korea, which is still technically at war with the South. But the agency has been repeatedly accused of meddling in domestic politics and of being used as a political tool by sitting presidents.

이명박이 살려고? 박근혜가 요청해서? 원세훈 유죄 판결이 남긴 질문… 독대 보고 받았던 이 전 대통령 몸통론 의혹으로

원세훈 전 국가정보원장의 공직선거법 위반 혐의에 대해 유죄가 선고되면서 정치적 파장이 커지고 있다. 

국정원의 선거 개입이 계획적이고 조직적으로 이뤄졌다고 재판부가 사실관계를 인정하면서 박근혜 정부의 정통성까지 의심을 받는 상황이기 때문이다. 

서울고법 형사6부(김상환 부장판사)는 지난 2012년 8월 새누리당 대선 후보가 확정될 당시부터 선거 관련 인터넷 게시물이 급증한 것을 통계치로 제시했다. 

특정 정당의 후보가 확정된 시점에 국가기관인 국정원이 정치적 중립성을 위반해가며 인터넷에서 몰래 지원한 것은 불법적 활동이며 형사처벌이 불기피하다는 것이 항소심 판결의 핵심이다. 정보를 통해 국가 안보를 지킨다는 국정원이 정권을 위해 불법적인 일을 저지른 것을 사법부가 인정한 것이다. 

판결문은 국정원의 선거 개입 행위가 얼마나 큰 해악을 끼쳤는지에 대한 설명으로 가득차 있다. 

김성환 부장판사는 "사이버에서 북한에 따른 심리전이 실제 행해지고 있다는 분석은 충분히 이해되고 충분히 조치할 필요가 있으나 필요성을 감안하고 보더라도 여러 사정에 비춰 이 사건의 사이버 활동은 심리전을 벗어나 공직선거법 등을 위반한 것이고 민주주의를 지키려는 활동이었다고 하나 민주주의를 훼손한 것임이 명백하다"고 말했다.

특히 전가의 보도처럼 휘둘렀던 종북세력에 대한 대응 차원이었다는 국정원의 입장에 대해서도 "종북세력이란 개념은 주체를 신봉하고 대한민국 정체성 정통성을 부정하는 반사회적 성향을 갖는 세력에서 대한민국 정부 반대 세력으로 넓게 사용될 수 있음에도 분명하게 획정하지 않아 대한민국 정부 정책에 대한 반대하고 비난하는 세력은 종북 세력이라는 입장에 기초한 사이버 활동을 가능하게 했다"고 지적했다. 

항소심 재판부는 향후 국정원의 사이버 심리전에 대한 신뢰성을 확보할 수 없다고 밝혀 향후 국정원 개혁도 주문한 것으로 풀이된다. 

김 부장판사는 "마치 일반 국민인양 선거 관련 의견을 조직적으로 전파해 국가 개입을 상상하지 못한 채 자유롭게 자신의 의견을 개진하고 자유롭게 토론했던 국민은 사이버 공론장의 순수성과 자율성을 의심할지도 모르게 됐다"고 말했다.

특히 항소심은 원 전 원장의 지시로 국정원 심리전단의 사이버 활동이 당선이나 낙선의 의도를 가졌다고 판단했다. 이명박 정부 하에서 국정원이 어떤 이유로 특정 정당의 후보를 지원했는지 진상을 규명해야 한다는 목소리가 커질 수밖에 없는 이유다. 

선거 개입 행위 지시가 원 전 원장을 뛰어넘어 '윗선’에서 나왔다는 물음이 나올 수 있는데 정권의 정통성 시비뿐 아니라 불법 선거운동 몸통 의혹까지 불거질 수 있다. 

이와 관련해 노무현 정부 때 폐지됐던 국정원장의 대통령 독대보고가 이명박 정부 들어 부활된 사실도 회자될 것으로 보인다. 

지난해 원세훈 게이트 진상조사위 간사였던 김현 새정치민주연합 위원은 "이명박 정권 내내 대통령 독대 보고를 부활시킨 원세훈 전 국정원장이 불법 정치 공작을 단독으로 벌였는지 밝혀야 한다"며 이 전 대통령의 수사를 촉구한 바 있다. 

박근혜 정부가 원세훈 전 원장의 공직선거법 위반 수사를 전방위적으로 방해했던 정황이 부각되고 있는 것도 심상치 않다. 

경찰은 지난 2013년 원 전 원장의 혐의와 관련해 국정원법 위반 혐의에 대해서만 송치 의견을 냈다. 또한 국정원 대선 개입 사건 특별수사팀장을 맡았던 윤석열 여주지청장은 공직선거법 위반 공소시효가 끝나는 시점인 2013년 6월 19일 이전 법무부에 보고서 작성 설명 과정에서 수사를 하지 못해 외압을 느꼈다고 폭로했다. 당시 채동욱 검찰총장도 석연치 않은 혼외자녀 의혹으로 쫓겨나가면서 대선 개입 사건 진상규명을 막기 위한 정권 차원의 찍어누르기 의혹으로 확산됐다.

▲ 원세훈 전 국정원장

이번 판결로 국정원 대선 개입 관련한 다른 사건에 대해서도 영향을 끼칠지 주목된다. 

서울중앙지검 공공형사수사부는 국정원 여직원 김모씨가 사용한 아이디 11개를 기자에게 전달한 혐의(개인정보보호법 위반)로 오늘의유머 사이트 운영자 이모씨를 약식기소했다.

이씨로부터 아이디를 받은 기자는 국정원 직원 김씨의 글을 파악하고 이를 근거로 해서 다른 국정원 직원의 아이디 등을 파악해 국정원의 조직적인 선거 개입 행위를 보도했다. 항소심 재판부는 이씨가 건넨 아이디는 국정원 직원으로 밝혀졌고 정치/선거 관여에 활용됐다고 판결했는데 이를 언론사에 건넨 행위를 두고 처벌 대상이 될 수 있는지에 대한 논란도 확산될 것으로 보인다. 

권은희 송파경찰서 수사과장(현 새정치민주연합 의원)이 경찰 윗선에서 사건을 조직적으로 은폐했다고 폭로한 사건과 관련해 김용판 전 서울지방경찰청이 무죄를 선고 받았지만 국정원의 선거개입 행위가 사실로 드러난 만큼 권은희 의원의 입지가 넓어질 것으로 보인다. 

정치권에서도 이번 판결의 파장을 예의주시하고 있다. 새누리당은 정통성 시비로 확산될 경우를 대비해 박근혜 정부 이전에 일어난 일임을 강조하는 모습이다. 김영우 새누리당 대변인은 "정치권에서 또다시 지난 대선 결과 전체에 대해서 소모적인 논쟁을 벌이는 일도 있어서는 안 될 것"이라고 말했다. 반면 야당은 이번 판결을 근거로 정통성 문제를 제기하면 대선 불복 논란으로 확산돼 발목을 잡을 수 있다는 우려도 엿보인다.   

이재화 변호사(민주사회를위한변호사모임)는 미디어오늘과 통화에서 "원세훈 전 원장이 바보가 아닌 이상 개인의 이익을 위해 선거에 개입한 게 아니다"라며 "결국 두가지다. 이명박 전 대통령이 자기가 살기 위해서 했거나 당시 박근혜 후보자 쪽에서 요청을 해서 이해관계가 맞아떨어져서 했다는 의혹이 나올 수밖에 없다"고 말했다. 이 변호사는 "어쨌든 법률상으로 보면 박근혜 대통령을 물러가라고 하는 것은 무리지만 전통성에 치명적인 하자가 발생한 것은 분명한 사실"이라고 말했다.

Homeplus tops foreign donations in Korea Intel, Heineken, OB, Fendi donated nothing for whole year

Homeplus Co. was the largest donor to charity among foreign businesses operating in Korea in 2012 for the second consecutive year, according to an online corporate research firm on Monday.

Data from Korea CXO Institute showed that Homeplus, a discount chain run by U.K.-based Tesco, donated 5.53 billion won ($5.26 million) in 2012 and 6.32 billion won in 2011 to charity, topping the research firm’s list of 50 companies with over 30 billion won in annual sales.

These 50 foreign firms belong to various sectors including tobacco, liquor, luxury goods, retail and foods, automobiles, electronics, pharmaceuticals and financial services. 

The researcher’s report only takes into account the donations that appear on the firms’ audit statements, and excludes charity donations by individuals. 

IBM Korea, the local branch the U.S.-based tech manufacturer, and Novartis Korea, the local unit of the Swiss pharmaceutical firm, ranked second and third on the list, setting aside 2.51 billion won and 2.40 billion won, respectively. 

BMW Group Korea and Bayer Korea, the local units of the German automaker and pharmaceutical firm, respectively, followed with 1.95 billion won and 1.79 billion won.

BMW Group Korea boosted its charity donations the most on-year, from 322 million won in 2011 to 1.95 billion won in 2012. 

Meanwhile, GM Korea, the local unit of U.S.-based General Motors, cut its donations the most, from 4.86 billion won in 2011 to 1.24 billion won in 2012, largely due to heavy operating losses. 

At the bottom of the donor list were Oriental Brewery Co, Intel Korea, Heineken Korea and Fendi Korea.

Oriental Brewery Co., whose major shareholders are U.S.-based private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and pan-Asian PEF Affinity Equity Partners, gave no charitable donations. 

Fendi Korea, the local operation of the Italian fashion house, donated nothing for the second consecutive year. 

The local employees of foreign companies said they felt pressured in asking the headquarters for local charity funds or social contribution expenses on the yearly budget proposals.

“Every year we try to convince the head office into assigning a higher budget to local social contribution activities and charity funds,” said a spokesperson of a foreign manufacturer.

“It is an extremely difficult task and all we can do is to cross our fingers and hope that they will understand the business environment here,” she added. 

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)

Stop and search: huge increase in police portable background checks

Use of portable background check devices by police

Crime rates are not on the rise, suggesting police checks are more of an exercise in police convenience and public intimidation

A man surnamed Kim, 32, was waiting for a friend on Seoul’s Jongno 3-ga avenue earlier this month when a police officer stopped him to ask for identification. The startled Kim handed over his ID and asked what it was about. “You were loitering around here for a while, and we just wanted to check up,” the officer said. After doing a background check on Kim, the officer thanked him and disappeared.

“I just handed over my ID without thinking,” Kim recalled. “After the officer had left, it occurred to me: this was a ‘questioning of a suspicious person.’ I was really angry. It seemed like they were treating me like a criminal without identifying themselves.”

Once in decline, cases of police stopping “suspicious persons” for questioning have made a major comeback under the Park Geun-hye administration, doubling each year since 2013. Figures on the use of portable background check devices over the past five years, which the Hankyoreh received on Jan. 11 after an information disclosure request to the National Police Agency, showed they were used for a total of 28,208,383 searches last year on passing individuals or vehicles. The amount is nearly double the 15,630,880 recorded in 2012, the last year of the Lee Myung-bak administration.

Random searches of citizens have shown an especially sharp rise. Background checks with portable devices rose from 3,238,918 in 2012 to 6,213,650 in 2013 and 11,807,970 in 2014 - nearly doubling each year. Statistically, roughly one in four adults has been subjected to one. The use of the devices to check on vehicles has also risen from 12,391,962 cases in 2012 to 16,400,413 last year.

The Act on the Performance of Duties by Police Officers defines “Police Questioning” by stipulating that “A police officer, by using reasonable judgment from a suspicious act or surrounding circumstances, may stop and ask a person questions when he has a considerable reason to suspect that the person has committed or is about to commit a crime.” Citizens have the right to refuse to answer and to say no if asked to go with the police officer - but many find it difficult to assert these rights when faced with a surprise request from the police.

In 2010, portable background check devices were used roughly 72,020,000 times: 16,027,707 times for personal questioning cases and 55,997,503 for vehicle checks. Human rights groups responded with a campaign against the questioning practices, while the National Human Rights Commission of Korea acknowledged the potential for human rights infringements. By 2012, the number was down to 15,630,000 cases, or about one-fifth its previous levels. The fluctuations could suggest the questioning was more a measure for police convenience than a reflection of real need.

Experts said the real reason for the sharp rise in questioning since Park took office is a desire to crack down on demonstrations in the first few years of the administration.

“An especially large number of people were stopped for questioning in the area around the Blue House after the sinking of the Sewol ferry [in April, 2014],” said Lee Ho-joong, a professor of law at Sogang University. “In many cases, the questionings were performed to scare people off and prevent them from taking part in large demonstrations. The police have talked about the ‘crime prevention effect,’ but there doesn’t appear to be much of one.”

Indeed, the ratio of arrests of wanted criminals with suspended cases out of all background check using the portable devices has dropped yearly from 2.4% in 2012 to 1.5% in 2013 and 0.75% last year.

The National Police Agency said the background check statistics “include not only people stopped for questioning, but also checks on traffic violations, violations of basic order, and pursuit of suspects in criminal cases.”

　

By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter

　

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