Prosecution Summons Chun Yong-taek

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office that is currently probing into the illegal wiretapping scandal involving the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and its predecessor, the National Security Planning Agency (NSPA), investigated former NIS director Chun Yong-taek as a witness yesterday.

Prosecutors questioned Chun on the process of confiscating and scrapping the illegally recorded tapes and recording logs that Gong Un-yong (indicted), the former head of the clandestine bugging team codenamed Mirim, leaked in November and December 1999.

The prosecution also investigated whether there were two tapes and a letter related to Chun, which Gong submitted to the NIS along with the illegal bugging materials at that time.

With this, based on breakdowns of usage data from the CASS mobile phone intercepting equipment that the prosecution obtained in its recent raid on the NIS, the prosecution looked into whether this equipment was used for illegal eavesdropping while Chun was in office.

Chun reportedly insisted, “I have never received reports of the illegal bugging materials or leaked them outside.”

The prosecutors are planning to summon Oh Chung-so, who was then the first deputy director of the NSPA and who masterminded the reestablishment and operation of the Mirim team in 1994, on August 24.

woogija@donga.com