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President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday instructed the National Intelligence Service to carry out a prompt internal investigation of a clandestine bugging operation run by its precursor organization in the 1990s. "The government must be thorough in revealing the illegal actions of national institutions,¡± he said.
Roh gave the instruction in a meeting of presidential aides, where he also noted concerns that other crimes could come to light in the course of reviewing the illegal recordings and warned there could be ¡°issues of balance¡± at stake. A Cheong Wa Dae official offered the customary gloss by saying this meant the presidential office was concerned how to respond if the tapes turn up other suspicions of illegal campaign funding during the 1997 presidential elections similar to those against Samsung and the JoongAng Ilbo kindled by a leaked tape from the bugging operation. But he said the government must first establish the scale and contents of the eavesdropping operation. That suggests many more of an estimated 8,000 tapes the crack team produced could contain explosive revelations.
Roh did not rule out that their contents could be made public even if the recordings were made illegally. He said legality would have to be weighed against the public interest and a decision would come after consultation with the officials responsible and public discussion.
The president made no comment on the fate of Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Hong Seok-hyun, who is allegedly one of the men on the leaked recording discussing campaign funds in his then-capacity as publisher of the JoongAng Ilbo. However, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Man-soo said the president believed the facts must be established first.
Meanwhile, the NIS wants to summon the head of the eavesdropping team, a 58-year-old man identified as Kong, and Kim Gi-sam, a former operative with the Agency for National Security Planning who blew the whistle on the bugging operation. It plans to ask Interpol for an international arrest warrant for Kim, who fled to the U.S.
Also on Monday the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy filed charges with the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office against 20 figures, including former Grand National Party chairman Lee Hoi-chang, Samsung Group CEO Lee Kun-hee, Ambassador Hong and high-ranking prosecutors, for bribery, embezzlement and misfeasance in office. The Korean Bar Association, Lawyers for a Democratic Society and Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice also called on prosecutors to investigate the scandal.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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