Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, the floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party, drinks water before a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sunday. A picture standing next to him shows National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won and Cho Sung-eun, the whistleblower of a power abuse scandal linked to former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, back in 2018 when the two were in the People's Party. Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han |
By Kang Seung-woo
An alleged power abuse and election meddling scandal linked to a leading presidential contender is taking a new turn as speculation is mounting over the possible involvement of the state-run spy agency.
The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) insists that National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Park Jie-won is the mastermind behind the allegations, while the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is counter-claiming that the rival party is trying to avert blame for the issue.
Yoon Seok-youl, a former prosecutor general and now one of the most favored opposition presidential hopefuls, has been accused of pushing the now-defunct United Future Party (UFP), a predecessor of the PPP, to lodge criminal complaints against several pro-government figures ahead of the general election in April last year, in what could have been an attempt at influencing the polls. To this end, Yoon allegedly ordered high-ranking prosecutor Son Jun-sung to hand over written criminal complaints to Kim Woong, a prosecutor-turned-politician who managed the party's election campaign at the time and was eventually elected as a lawmaker.
The allegations were first reported by an internet-based media outlet, Newsverse, Sept. 2, after receiving information from Cho Sung-eun, a former deputy chief of the election committee of the UFP during the general election.
However, Cho has recently placed the NIS chief under suspicion, as well as herself, that they had come up with the media report in an attempt to discredit Yoon's election campaign.
"The release date (of the Newsverse report) was not the one that Park or I wanted nor discussed," Cho told local broadcaster SBS, Sunday.
"It was a date that the reporter decided on."
 |
| National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won / Korea Times file |
"According to the National Intelligence Service Act, the NIS chief is strictly prohibited from meddling in domestic politics. I am wondering why the publication date that the NIS head had wanted was mentioned in the (SBS) interview," PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok said during a party Supreme Council meeting, Monday
Lee also questioned the veracity of the allegation, referring to a meeting between Park and Cho, Aug. 11, about three weeks before the Newsverse's first report.
"As for the escalating suspicion on possible political maneuvering, the NIS chief, not Cho, should explain and if his explanation is not satisfactory, we plan to call for his firing or replacement," he added.
PPP floor leader Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon also denounced Cho's remarks as "extremely odd."
"Cho admitted that the NIS chief was deeply involved in the case," he said.
In response, Cho said on a social network platform, Monday, that the PPP was attempting to quibble about something unimportant, adding she never discussed the issue with Park.
The ruling party also dismissed the PPP claims, saying that it was trying to move attention away from the allegation against Yoon.
"Their claims sound like a third-rated political novel," DPK Chairman Rep. Song Young-gil told a party meeting.
"The whistleblower provided information to the online media outlet, July 21, over 20 days ahead of her meeting with Park. In addition, she received documents from Kim Woong, April 3, 2020. What does the meeting (between Park and Cho on Aug. 11) have to do with the allegation?"
