Ex-NIS Chief Hints of Political Pressure in Il Shim Hue Investigation
The Chosun Ilbo spoke with Kim Seong-Kew, who just resigned as Chief of the National Intelligence Service. Read this and see what you make of it:
Asked who will succeed him, Kim told the Chosun Ilbo it was “very important” who becomes the next NIS chief. “Some of the candidates are unsuitable due to concerns that they tend to do what [politicians] want them to do. Considering the presidential election next year and the operations of the NIS, the right candidate would be politically neutral and have a global view and knowledge,” he said.
Kim would neither confirm nor deny that he was directly or indirectly pressured over the investigation by other former student activists of the so-called 386 generation now in influential positions. “I don’t care,” he said. “The investigation of North Korean spies will continue until the truth is found, and everyone [in the NIS] will work hard to do that even if it costs them their job, regardless of my resignation. He said “everyone” in the agency was conducting the probe with “a strong sense of patriotism and is working to improve our nation’s security by arresting North Korean spies. The remarks hint at discord either between the NIS and some politicians or within the NIS over the investigation. The NIS chief tendered his resignation to President Roh Moo-hyun on Thursday, when news of the spy scandal broke, reportedly saying he did not “want to be a burden” in the planned reshuffle of the foreign and security lineup.
I would be very interested in seeing just how far this one goes.
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