NIS Head Leaks Report over Visit to North Korea

NIS Head Leaks Report over Visit to North Korea. January. 18, 2008 07:31. needjung@donga.com swpark@donga.com.

Kim Man-bok, head of the National Intelligence Service, leaked not only a memo detailing his conversation with Kim Yang Gon, director of the United Front Department of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, but also a report about his North Korea trip to fourteen acquaintances, including a reporter to the JoongAng Ilbo and a former head of the NIS, according to sources yesterday.

Since the report is known to include more sensitive details than the memo, leaking the report will significantly influence prosecutors’ judgment over whether his actions were unlawful.

According to NIS sources, the agency had a briefing on Jan. 5 over why the NIS head visited North Korea before the presidential election and sent the details of conversations with his North Korean counterpart to the transition committee on Jan. 7. The NIS head reportedly gave the memo and report to his acquaintances on Jan. 9.

Prosecutors have secured and analyzed the memo and report which the transition committee received from the NIS as well as another memo and report which the NIS head sent to his acquaintances.

Prosecutors are investigating whether details in the report should be considered state secrets or the agency’s decision not to categorize the details as state secret as reasonable. In particular, prosecutors are focused on whether contents of the report are actually worth being protected as state secrets.

After thorough analysis, the national prosecutors’ office will announce today whether the details are secret or not. If the leaked details are considered a secret, the head of the NIS can face criminal charges for leaking official state secrets.

Yesterday, the transition committee urged the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae, which has yet to accept Kim’s resignation, to accept his resignation as soon as possible, saying, “We hope Cheong Wa Dae deals with this case in accordance with the law.”

In a briefing, transition team spokesman Lee Dong-gwan said, “The head of the NIS threw the nation into confusion. Therefore, the transition committee firmly believes that this case should not be simply dropped. We urge Cheong Wa Dae to live up to the public’s expectations.”

Speaking on behalf of Cheong Wa Dae, Cheon Ho-seon rebutted, “The presidential transition committee and the Grand National Party are the ones who seriously erode the nation’s discipline. They raise ridiculous suspicions that Kim Man-bok visited North Korea a day before the presidential election in order to influence elections in the South and groundlessly argue that we paid money to the North in return for the summit between the two Koreas.”