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Grand National Party presidential contender Lee Myung-bak
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An agent of the National Intelligence Service is suspected of accessing databases at government agencies and looking up real estate purchase and holdings by Grand National Party frontrunner Lee Myung-Bak¡¯s brother-in-law Kim Jae-jeong and other relatives. Prosecutors say they obtained the clue while investigating unauthorized computer network access following a complaint about the leak of allegations by Kim. NIS officials on Thursday said an agent in the domestic affairs division accessed the files at the database of the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs before incumbent NIS head Kim Man-bok took office on Nov. 23, 2006.
The NIS says it is willing to provide related documents to prosecutors if requested. Prosecutors are investigating who accessed the confidential information at government agencies. It was not clear why the agent looked up the files and how the information was leaked to outside. But the involvement of an NIS agent is potentially explosive information.
The NIS is also conducting an internal investigation why the agent accessed the database and whether he did so at the orders of a senior official, whom GNP supreme committee member Lee Jae-oh, a leader in Lee¡¯s camp, accuses of ordering a secret intelligence dossier file on Lee to be compiled.
NIS chief Kim Man-bok told the National Assembly Intelligence Committee on Thursday his agency¡¯s computer network is linked to the property and tax databases at government agencies. He declined publicly to reveal who logged on to the network but said his agency was cooperating with prosecutors.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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