Kim Not Assured of NIS Directorship

Who is Kim Man-bok, executive director of the National Intelligence Service? Kim had been considered for the job of the New NIS director along with outgoing Defense Minister, Yoon Kwang-ung and Chief of Seoul High Prosecutors’ office Lee Jong-baek.

Kim’s career has been on a fast track. Kim, who is from Busan, was appointed as the chief of the Information Management Bureau of the presidential National Security Council during the Roh administration. After that he served as the leader of the government joint investigation team on Iraq, and then returned to the NIS as the fist executive director. He has a close link to Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok because He worked with Minister Lee at the Sejong Institute and at National Security Council when Minister Lee was the head of NSC.

But sources from Cheong Wa Dae say President Roh himself talked about Kim as a candidate. That means President Roh trusts him. Some say President Roh liked Kim because he was good at briefing when he was the chief of the Information Management Bureau of the NSC.

But there are mixed opinions about him inside the NIS. One official said, “It is hard to raise issues with his capabilities. He is very diligent and hard-working.”

However, whether he is qualified and trusted by his colleagues enough to be the next head of the NIS is still in question.

Even NIS insiders seem not to welcome his possible nomination as the leader of NIS despite the fact it is a usually desired inside promotion. Another NIS official said, “Director of NIS Kim Seung-gyu is well aware of the qualifications of the executive director, Kim Man-bok.” That means his nomination could be vetoed. Sources from Cheong Wa Dae think Kim’s promotion to the head would help raise morale of NIS because he is an NIS insider, but the atmosphere inside the NIS is quite different.

One senior official of the NIS bluntly criticized him, saying, “First executive director Kim has built good chemistry with the current government and pleased ruling party members. He is the “serve-one person-faithfully” type.”

Inside friction?-

According to the NIS staff, Kim is the one who argued, “We should reveal all the fact that the NIS was engaged in wiretapping in the past.” when the wiretapping scandal erupted last year. Last year when Cheong Wa Dae set the principle that the current government can’t deal with wiretapping issues of the past Kim Dae-jung government, he was in the forefront in the move for declaration of conscience and withdrawal of all wiretapping equipment. NIS officials said, “Because he pushed ahead with the move without serious contemplation, now we end up with inability to monitor communications of North Korea, dropping the morale of NIS employees.” That means they suffered conflicts over the issue inside the NIS.

Friction may have developed over the recently emerging issue of former student activists contacting North Korean spies. One NIS senior official said: “Director Kim’s will to investigate the spy incident is strong. He lamented over the declining surveillance capability of NIS on North Korea and has been encouraging his staff. Given that, the chemistry between NIS and the government is not good.”

According to some sources of the NIS, some officials seem to guess that Director Kim thought it would be better for him to step down rather than to sit back and keep his position because his organization and Cheong Wa Dae has completely different ideas on the spy issue.

But in regard to the external muscle flexing on the investigation into the spy issue, he answered at the NIS insider meeting on October 30, “The rumor is not true.” He also added: “We have to find the truth on the issue as well as keep the principle of protecting human rights of our suspects during investigation so that we should thoroughly abide by the rules and be impartial during the investigation. Officials of NIS should be dedicated to and committed to their jobs without wavering under such circumstances.”

yongari@donga.com jin0619@donga.com