NIS chief nominee faces tough grilling at confirmation hearing

NIS chief nominee faces tough grilling at confirmation hearing. March. 17, 2015 07:19. constant25@donga.com.

A historical perspective on the May 16 coup became a hot topic of debate during the parliament’s confirmation hearing for Lee Byung-ho (see photo), a nominee to serve as the head of the National Intelligence Service, on Monday.

When Rep. Kim Kwang-jin of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) asked him, “Do you agree that the May 16 coup, was a military rebellion?” Lee said, “It is a coup academically and legally.” When Rep. Park Jie-won of the NPAD said, “Didn’t you join the army cadets’ march to support the coup right after the May 16 coup?” Lee said, “I was forced to do so.” Lee stressed that the May 16 event was a historical event that strengthened national security from the perspective whether a historical event contributed to national security or not. He claimed that he accepted the term the “May 16 coup” but cannot give up on the historical meaning of the event.

The nominee made it clear that he would root out the intelligence agency’s intervention in politics. In his opening remarks, he said, “Any political intervention ruins the NIS. I’ll never become a historical criminal.” He added, “My belief is that the NIS should never wield power.”

Lee stressed that an anti-terrorism law needs to be legislated so that an anti-terrorism center can be created in the NIS. “Information and terrorism cannot be separated,” he said. “Terrorism can be prevented with information. Kim Ki-jong’s attack of U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert was a terrorist act in that it was a harmful act with political purposes.

While praising Lee`s philosophy on security, opposition party lawmakers criticized his conservative approach revealed in his contributions to the press. Lee made an apology to those who felt offended by his expression – he described the deadly protests by evictees of a Seoul redevelopment area of Yongsan district in 2009 as a “riot.”

Lee dodged sensitive questions asked by opposition party lawmakers by saying, “I’ll work on that,” or “I’ll figure it out if I take office.”

With the end of Lee’s confirmation hearing, only one hearing for Supreme Court justice nominee Park Sang-ok is left. The main opposition party decided to hammer out differences internally at its general meeting on Thursday. Based on the result, both the ruling and opposition parties will discuss the hearing schedule again. As NPAD leadership has agreed on the need for the confirmation hearing, the hearing could be held in March at the earliest.