[Editorial] Investigate National Intelligence Service Corruption in Full

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) was found to have covered up Yoon Tae-Sik`s muder of `Suzie Kim` as well as backing Yoon`s Pass 21 venture business. The NIS`s connection to the Jin Seung-Hyun gate and the Chung Hyun-Joon gate has become quite clear. Now that we find a connection between the NIS and this Yoon Tae-Sik gate, what kind of an organization is the NIS and what has it been doing all this time?

Excluding the Lee Yong-Ho gate currently under review by special investigator, the NIS has played a central role in three of the four gates. How can the people trust that the nation is safe and rely on the NIS whose duties requires intelligence gathering here and abroad, and guarding the security of the nation. The NIS side explains the Yoon gate by saying that it merely requested reference material from the intelligence department in order to prevent public criticism. However, no one will believe what the NIS no matter what it says.

Even at a superficial glance, it is clear that former director 2 Kim Eun-Sung, former head of the finance department Kim Hyung-Yoon, and former director of the finance department Chung Sung-Hong ran the NIS. Former president of MCI Korea Kim Jae-Hwan, suspected of being a central figure in the Jin gate, and Mr. Kim who is at the heart of the Yoon gate are both former NIS employees. Mr. Kim in particular is reported to have worked as an investigator during the time of Suzie Kim`s murder in 1987. Furthermore, when we consider that Pass 21 paperwork passed through the NIS finance department, the opposition party`s argument that the NIS continually managed Pass 21 has some merit.

Moreover, Kim Jae-Hwan and others connected with these gates have all left the country or went underground. The public prosecutors office`s investigation has not answered any questions that the people have. The NIS must no attempt to avoid the issue any longer. Such makeshift measures will lead to other scandals and ultimately ruin its reputation. It must find a way to restore the people`s trust now.

The only way that the NIS can do this is to honestly and actively initiate a complete investigation. Its current passivity will only aggravate public mistrust. The NIS must find a way to conduct a complete investigation of corruption by itself.