Rival political parties on Tuesday continued to clash over the national spy agency’s wiretapping scandal as they remained split over how to investigate the allegation that it had monitored citizens’ phone calls.
The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy repeated its call for an open parliamentary hearing into the National Intelligence Service’s wiretapping scandal, while the ruling Saenuri Party dismissed the call as a politically-motivated attempt, instead pushing for a closed-door session and a visit to the spy agency.
“Lawmakers have a duty to get to the bottom of the wiretapping allegation,” NPAD floor leader Rep. Lee Jong-kul said. “NIS must come out and accept a parliamentary hearing if they think they have never been involved with spying on civilians,” said Lee.
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| NPAD Rep. Lee Jong-kul (left) and NPAD Rep. Shin Kyoung-min. (Yonhap) |
But the ruling Saenuri party urged the NAPD to stop inflating allegations and dismissed it as groundless. The ruling party asserted than the NIS had already given plausible explanations for the wiretapping charges.
The floor leaders of the two parties met later in the day to work on a compromise.
Last week, NIS issued a rare public statement denying the allegation that it had bugged civilians. The agency said it never conducted surveillance operation against civilians and groundless allegations would compromise national security.
“NIS came forward and gave us full explanation. I understand NPAD should appreciate and acknowledge its attempt to explain itself. I think it is a truly courageous move,” said Rep. Cho won-jin of Saenuri Party.
The wiretapping allegation surfaced when emails between suspected NIS agents and Italian software firm Hacking Team was leaked by unidentified hackers earlier this month. The email showed that NIS had purchased hacking software that has wiretapping capabilities.
The NIS asserted that the software was never used for the surveillance of South Korean citizens, though it admitted it was bought in 2012. The agency noted that it used the program to enhance cyberwarfare capabilities against North Korea.
The explanation, however, was met with public skepticism due to the spy agency’s alleged meddling in the 2012 presidential elections. The NIS was accused of conducting a smear campaign against opposition candidate Moon Jae-in. NPAD claimed that the NIS helped Moon’s rival, President Park Geun-hye, win the election.
The public distrust only worsened after last week’s apparent suicide of an NIS agent suspected to have been involved in the agency’s deals with Hacking Team. He left a suicide note that said the NIS had not wiretapped ordinary citizens.
By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)
