Menus in Chungwadae Are Confidential?

The Presidential office of Chungwadae said yesterday that it received the resignation tendered by two Chungwadae officials, who wrote a book titled What Chungwadae People Have for Their Meals?. The book contains eating habits and preferred food of previous presidents and other episodes pertaining to food served for guests.

A Chunwadae official said, "When they are hired, all staff members of Chungwadae pledge that they will keep in mind that everything regarding the president is confidential, and that they will accept any punishment if they violate the security regulation. These two people violated this office regulation."

He said, `The one of the authors introduced himself as a dietitian, who served for previous presidents, but in fact he was a mere assistant cook. Many parts of the book are different from the truth."

Chungwadae initially planned to sack the two people and appeal to the court to ban the sale of the book. But Chunwadae changed its plan and decided to receive their resignation for fear that all the fuss about the issue would increase the sale of the book.

Another Chungwadae official said that Chungwadae is now investigating the authors` intention to publish the book. He indicated that Chungwadae is considering taking legal step since it is closely related to security of the President and Chungwadae.

Dong-Ki Sung esprit@donga.com