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President Park Geun-hye should have let go of spy agency chief Nam Jae-joon to stand down. Nam apologized for his subordinates who fabricated documents to frame a former Seoul government official for espionage. Park also said she was sorry but fell short of allowing him to bow out.
Their apology came one day after the prosecution announced that Nam and other high ranking officials at the National Intelligence Service (NIS) were not aware of the evidence forgery.
A special prosecution team, after spending several months looking into the case, concluded that only a handful of mid-to low-level NIS agents plotted and perpetrated the evidence forgery on their own volition.
Nam was acquitted of all charges.
The prosecution's ruling was not surprising at all.
The prosecution and spy agency were in the same boat in the first place. The prosecution also took part in foul play by using the fabricated documents to substantiate espionage charges against the former Seoul government official Yu Woo-sung.
They were colluders in the case. So there were limits in place on the prosecution's investigation of the case.
Few expected the prosecution would uncover the truth in the scandal. But at the same time, people are not naive enough to believe what was concluded by the prosecution per se.
One of the chief objectives of the NIS is to identify and apprehend spies. As this is critical to national security, the agency should carry out its job in a clandestine but honest manner.
It should be a reliable organization, especially at a time when tension is again escalating between the two Koreas.
However, it has lost so much of the public's trust that it cannot fall any further. This happened because it has become too political.
It's supposed to be a neutral organization. It should have distanced itself from politics. But it has been at the center of politics and sometimes more political than any other political party.
It's a powerful organization and its power comes from the intelligence it gathers. It needs to make the best use of the information for the people not for a certain political purpose.
From a smear campaign against opposition candidates in the 2012 presidential election to the unprecedented release of confidential inter-Korean summit recordings, the NIS has continued to be involved in disreputable matters and disputes.
The agency seems to be seriously "addicted to politics." It needs to undergo a major surgery to cure the addiction.
In his apology-making press briefing that lasted only three minutes on Tuesday, Nam said he was sorry for the evidence forgery scandal having emerged "at a time when national security is in grave danger."
He pledged that his agency will make strenuous efforts to reform. But few believe that he is capable of reforming the organization.
President Park sacked former Oceans and Fisheries Minister Yoon Jin-sook after she drew fire from the media for a series of gaffes in early February.
Yoon was fired by the President for controversial comments while engaged in handling an oil spill.
In hindsight, it's questionable whether she deserved such harsh punishment. In most cases, a minister offers to resign and the President accepts this. Likewise Park could have shown her the exit and allowed her to step down voluntarily.
However, she abruptly sacked Yoon following a recommendation from Prime Minister Jung Hong-won.
Nam's responsibility in the evidence forgery is far graver and greater than Yoon's.
By allowing Nam to retain his job, Park won't be able to avoid criticism that she is applying double standards.
It is known that Nam is a strong confidant of Park. It may be painful for her to lose such a stalwart, royal lieutenant. She is apparently determined to brave onslaughts from the opposition party.
Of course she knows that he would impose a big burden on her administration because the opposition will continue to take issue with her failure to let go of him.
Park wants to put an end to the evidence forgery scandal by making a public apology and ordering Nam to carry out drastic reform measures.
But it's far from enough to keep a lid on it. There will be calls for a special probe into the scandal. Disgraced Nam won't be able to perform his job properly, let alone reform his agency.
The steps to reform the spy agency that lied to the people should start with getting rid of the spymaster.
