Presidential candidates Lee Hoi-chang and Roh Moo-hyun simultaneously pledged reform of the National Intelligence Service, in response to the ongoing illegal surveillance scandal. However, neither produced details of their reforms; everyone knows the need for reforming the spy agency, and so realistic and plausible measures should have been revealed.

Every presidential candidate the country has seen has promised reform of the nations intelligence agency. The Korea Central Intelligence Agency, established in 1961, changed its name to the National Security Planning Agency and then to the National Intelligence Service, but every pledged reform of its domestic monitoring of politicians and others has failed. Instead of concentrating on North Korea and other foreign countries, it has continued to amass information on South Korean citizens.

Therefore, it is not wrong for candidates to put the highest priority on the suspension of NIS monitoring of domestic politics, but the president cannot do this alone. A system must be introduced whereby the NIS cannot be used as a weapon in a power struggle, by providing the president with information. The president's political activity should be carried out through his staff and party.

The NIS function as the intelligence agency of the only divided country in the world should not be reduced. To date it has boasted of its power in domestic affairs, but its ability to gather overseas information has been criticized as weaker that that of private organizations and businesses. Therefore the presidential candidates should put forward blueprints on how they will improve this and halt domestic eavesdropping.

December 3, 2002