Copy Containing FTA Confidential Strategies Leaked

It was belatedly reported on January 22 that a government memo on confidential strategies in the free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) talks with the United States was leaked. The memo was given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) to the National Assembly members of the FTA Special Committee on January 13.

The KORUS FTA Support Team and the Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee (UFATC) under the National Assembly announced that they informed the leak to Rep. Song Young-gil, the governing Uri Party’s chief representative of the National Assembly special committee, on January 19.

Some news outlets came under criticism for hitting Korea’s economic interest hard by reporting on the country’s strategies on the FTA negotiations based on the classified memo on January 18 and 19.

According to the KORUS FTA Support Team, 30 memos containing confidential strategies were given to the FTA Special Committee in the 14th closed National Assembly meeting on January 13. One of the copies was unaccounted.

The government says that it asked Rep. Lee Hye-hoon of the Grand National Party, who had not returned it, to give it back, but he didn’t.

However, Mr. Lee said in a press conference in the National Assembly on the same day, “As I was not in the meeting held on January 13, I didn’t even have a chance to see the memo.”

He also said, “The memo, leaked to several news outlets, could be seen in the open meeting that was held in the same place on the morning of that day. So, it had lost its effectiveness as a confidential memo in the first place. It is not right for the government to shift its responsibility to the National Assembly.”

The KORUS FTA Support Committee decided to launch a probe on the possibility that a participant in the meeting intentionally took Rep. Lee’s memo and leaked it.

Around 10 lawmakers were present in the closed-door meeting, including Chairman Hong Jae-hyeong, Song Young-gil, Kim Tae-nyeon, Park Young-seon, Choi Jae-choen, Seo Hye-seok, Lee Jong-gu, Ahn Myeong-ok, Ahn Hong-jun, Kim Nak-seong, and Shim Sang-jeong.

Meanwhile, the government started an investigation on those in the related government agencies to find out who leaked the documents, and plans to hold him or her accountable. The National Assembly also intends to look into this in the UFATC and the KORUS FTA Special Committee which will be held this week.

The National Intelligence Service is also reported to have launched probes on FTA-related ministries including the MOFAT and the Ministry of Finance and Economy right after the leak on January 18.

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