Opposition urges new probe into shooting of cop

The Grand National Party Thursday called for a parliamentary investigation into the alleged cover-up of a shooting accident in May last year at a guard post inside the Chong Wa Dae presidential office.

In its first meeting, the opposition party's special fact-finding committee on the incident also demanded a fresh probe by police and punishment of responsible officials. The panel is chaired by Rep. Kim Won-Wung.

Kim called for a full investigation of the case, arguing that police authorities rushed to cover up the incident without inspecting the scene of the crime.

The committee members then visited the office of the presidential protective service and Seoul National University Hospital.

Earlier, at Kim's office in the Parliamentarians' Building, the father of the dead officer, Kim Jong-Won, told the press that although he believes his son was murdered, he has no evidence to support his claim. He said his request for a through inquiry into the cause of his son's death was rejected from the beginning.

According to the father, the police record of the initial investigation showed there was no trace of gunpowder on his son's hands, nor any injury to his face or head suggesting that he fell after a sustaining a gunshot wound.

Chong Wa Dae officials said that during a parliamentary inspection of the administration last year, presidential protective service officials were summoned at the request of the opposition party to answer questions and give a full account of the incident to lawmakers.

They went on to accuse the opposition of raising suspicions meant to turn a "pure accident" into a sort of political cover-up in order to contain and countervail a press scandal involving the GNP. Documents were recently uncovered suggesting that the opposition party intended to blacklist "unfriendly journalists" as part of its advance campaign to win the presidency.