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National Intelligence Service Director Kim Man-bok is set to become the target of an inquiry, as evidence shows that he was directly and indirectly involved in the leak of secret documents purporting to record a conversation between him and the head of North Korea¡¯s clandestine activities in the South, Kim Yang-gon. The NIS already launched an internal inquiry at the request of president-elect Lee Myung-bak¡¯s Transition Committee.
An NIS official said rumors about Kim Man-bok¡¯s involvement are rampant in the organization. But he added investigating an incumbent director would be difficult for the spy agency and a full inquiry ¡°will have to wait until Kim is replaced.¡± But if the NIS¡¯ internal probe makes slow progress, prosecutors will inevitably step in. A senior prosecutor said the prosecution has yet to launch an investigation but will have to do so if it receives a request.
Prosecutors are already investigating suspicions about secret inquiries into Lee when he was a presidential candidate by an anti-corruption taskforce at the NIS, allegations raised by the Grand National Party. Kim and former NIS deputy director Lee Sang-up are accused of ordering the secret inquiries. Prosecutors are also looking into whether a senior NIS official engaged in a scheme to repatriate Kim Kyung-joon, the former head of the defunct investment firm BBK and business partner of the incoming president, to Seoul shortly before the presidential election. There are rumors inside the NIS that another senior official besides Kim was involved in the oddly timed extradition. Prosecutors are looking at the overseas travel record of the suspected figure around the former BBK chief¡¯s arrival in Seoul.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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