Spy master exonerated

Two NIS officials indicted in evidence fabrication case

A special prosecution team confirmed Monday that a number of spy agency officials fabricated evidence to frame Yu Woo-sung, a former Seoul government official who posed as a North Korean defector, for espionage.

National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Nam Jae-joon and two prosecutors in charge of the trial against Yu were cleared of any involvement in the high-profile scandal.

“The [indicted] NIS officers said they did not report how they obtained the documents to their superiors _ deputy directors and those above,” the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement at a news conference announcing the results of the team’s investigation.

The prosecution newly indicted two mid-level NIS officers without physical detention on charges of fabricating the evidence. They are the team leader of the anti-communist investigation unit, identified as Lee, and Lee In-cheol, an NIS officer dispatched as a consul to the Korean consulate in Shenyang, northeastern China.

Another spy agency official, identified as Kwon, had his indictment suspended as he is recovering from a suicide attempt. He will face charges of “maliciously” forging several documents used in an appeal against a not guilty verdict delivered for Yu.

Hours after the prosecution’s announcement, Seo Cheon-ho, a deputy NIS director, offered to resign, taking responsibility for the scandal. President Park Geun-hye immediately accepted his resignation.

“I apologize to the people for causing concern as a person in charge of overseeing intelligence gathering, although working level officials conducted the operation without reporting (the evidence fabrication) to their superiors,” Seo said in a statement.

Prosecutor General Kim Jin-tae also expressed his regret for the prosecution having submitted fabricated evidence to the appeals court. He ordered an internal inspection of the two prosecutors in charge of the appeal against Yu.

Yu was accused of faking his defection from North Korea to work as an agent for Pyongyang. After he was found not guilty, the prosecutors appealed the verdict.

On March 31, the prosecution team arrested and charged another NIS operations officer known as “Mr. Kim” and his civilian collaborator for forging evidence against Yu.

The prosecution concluded that Mr. Kim and Kwon forged public and private documents on the orders of Lee, the team leader.

The documents were provided to prosecutors in the espionage case to help them argue that Yu, an ethnic Chinese man, travelled to North Korea multiple times, and therefore worked as a spy for the regime.

They recently withdrew the documents as evidence, following the fabrication scandal. The Seoul High Court is expected to deliver a ruling on the appeal in two weeks.

The final results of the investigation into the evidence fabrication show that prosecutors have failed to make much progress since March 31, apart from charging Lee.

The prosecution knew about the involvement of Kwon and Lee In-cheol when they indicted Mr. Kim and his civilian collaborator. By Kim Da-ye The korea times