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By Yi Whan-woo
Cheong Wa Dae has denied an allegation that it conducted illegal surveillance on Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae and other judges under the Park Geun-hye administration.
"The suspicion is groundless," a Park aide told reporters on condition of anonymity, Friday. "The presidential office has never spied on anyone, and has no intention to do so."
The allegation was raised by Cho Han-gyu, a former president of the Segye Ilbo, during a National Assembly hearing on the influence-peddling scandal surrounding Park and her confidant Choi Soon-sil, Thursday.
However, opposition parties called for a thorough investigation and punishment of those responsible, saying the case, if true, is a serious violation of the Constitution.
They called into the Park administration's commitment to the principle of separation of power.
"This is a grave violation of the Constitution and Park deserves to be impeached multiple times if the suspicion turns out to be true," main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairwoman Rep. Choo Mi-ae said during the party's Supreme Council meeting.
The allegation came as Park awaits the Constitutional Court's decision after the National Assembly approved an impeachment motion against her on Dec. 9.
Choo asked a team of special investigators, led by independent counsel Park Young-soo, to look into the case as part of their probe. Park's team said they will consider the call.
Floor leader of the second-largest opposition People's Party Rep. Park Jie-won echoed a similar view.
"We must investigate it very thoroughly," he said in a separate meeting. "Cheong Wa Dae's surveillance on judges will be an act of destruction of the Constitution, judiciary and democracy, as well as a violation of human rights."
The party's former co-leader, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, called Cheong Wa Dae's alleged spying activities "political sabotage that must be abolished."
Rep. Sim Sang-jeung, chairwoman of the third and smallest opposition Justice Party, said the suspicion, if verified, should be a "key reason" for the Constitutional Court's ruling against Park over her impeachment.
The former Segye Ilbo president said Cheong Wa Dae's surveillance of Yang was mentioned in one of the copies of eight leaked presidential documents he obtained. The documents are yet to be made public.
Meanwhile, DPK lawmaker Park Beom-kye hinted that the National Intelligence Service (NIS), not Cheong Wa Dae, may have spied on Yang and compiled a related report afterwards to use the information for malicious purposes.
He said duplicates of the controversial document show watermarks that also have a date of expiration.
"Such a method of handling documents is used at the NIS, not Cheong Wa Dae. This is a serious violation of the law," the lawmaker said.
The spy agency kept silent over the case, Friday.
