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There is widespread agreement that an interim report by the National Intelligence Service¡¯s Truth Committee on the mysterious disappearance of former Korean Central Intelligence Agency director Kim Hyung-wook raises more questions than it answers.
The biggest question mark hangs over the role played by the 10 civilian members of the Truth Committee - academics, religious leaders and civic representatives appointed to keep an eye on the five NIS officials on the committee. The short answer, some say, is that they played none.
The interim report relies heavily on testimony from one Shin Hyeon-jin (not his real name), a former KCIA operative in Paris. Yet not one of the 10 civilian committee members has spoken to Shin.
Former Millennium Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Kyung-jae, who wrote a biography of Kim Hyung-wook said in a radio program on Thursday, "The civilian committee members accepted the outcome of an inquiry done exclusively by the NIS without ever meeting Shin in person."
The NIS, too, admits that the role of the civilian committee members had to be partially restricted. To maintain security, the agency says, it briefed the civilian members on the final report just prior to making it public. Now it has been revealed that the Ven. Hyorim, a Buddhist member of the committee, has resigned. The NIS says he did so over "personal matters," but some media reported the monk was unhappy with the way the Truth Committee operated.
"Because the civilian members only take part in the deliberations while the actual investigation is done by investigators, there was no reason for the civilian members to investigate or meet Shin in person," a Truth Committee official explained. But the NIS said its officials in fact played a leading role in investigating Shin, because as a former KCIA operative he was reluctant to meet with the civilian members.
Some also find the conclusions of the report hard to swallow. "My primary doubt is whether former KCIA director Kim Jae-kyu really ordered the assassination of his immediate predecessor. There will be more debate," the spymaster's biographer warned. Meanwhile, the Internet is abuzz with posts questioning every detail of a report ostensibly published to put an end to 26 years of speculation.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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