NEC Says Government Employee-Leaked Reports Raise Doubts

On June 22, Secretary General Jo Yeong-sik of the National Election Commission (NEC) said, “When a president raises questions about the election pledges of a certain party or a candidate, it can arouse doubts among the nation’s people.”

While attending the Government Administration and Local Autonomy Committee of the National Assembly this day, he commented on suspicions regarding the leakage and distortions of the ‘Report on the Grand Canal of the Korean Peninsula,’ saying, “We requested a police investigation because we wondered whether this was the first case of “taking sides” among government employees.”

“It is not wrong for those in charge to revise the pledge of a powerful presidential candidate, but it can be a violation of the election law when the contents are leaked and used to plan projects concerning the election campaigns of the candidates of a certain party,” he added.

The investigation division of the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, which is examining the case of the leakage of the revision report on the Seoul-Busan canal, hinted that it seized evidence concerning the route of the leakage, saying, “We were able to hear some useful statements from persons involved in drafting the document.”

“We summoned 9 persons related to the task force, including the staffs of the Korea Water Resources Corporation and the Ministry of Construction and Transportation who took part in drafting the document, but all of them denied the charges of leakage,” said police on the same day. “But over the course of the investigation so far, we have heard some useful statements.”

Representative Kim Jae-gyeong of the Grand National Party, on June 22, argued that the revision report on the Seoul-Busan canal (37 pages), which is at the center of distortion and leakage suspicions, was written by the Ministry of Construction and Transportation.

The revision report on the Seoul-Busan canal, which the Korea Water Resources Corporation handed in to Representative Kim, is identical to the 37 page document disclosed by the press except in the name of writer on the cover and a line in the conclusion.

taylor55@donga.com bibulus@donga.com