Presidential Office Secretly Leading Efforts to Muzzle Veterans

The government attempt to revise the Veterans Act is being led by the presidential office, the Dong-A Ilbo confirmed yesterday.

The Roh administration was found to be attempting a revision of the law to prohibit political activities by the members of the Korean Veterans Association (KorVA) with punishment for those who do not abide by the new regulations.

The KorVA has been the major political opposition of the left-leaning current administration, which raises suspicion that President Roh Moo-hyun, with two months to go in his office, is engaging in political retaliation.

Roh presided over a meeting called, “The Conference for Innovation in the KorVA” on November 30 in his office, according to a source close to the government. Representatives of nine government agencies were present, including representatives from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MOPVA), which drew up the revised version of the Veterans Act, Ministry of Defense (MOD), Office for Government Policy Coordination, Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE), Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Energy, Public Procurement Service, Board of Audit and Inspection, and Korea Electric Power Corporation.

Roh was reported as seeking measures to innovate the KorVA, including stipulation prohibiting KorVA political activities and punishment for non-compliance, the shutting-down of village-level KorVA offices, and the strengthening of government agency control over KorVA.

After the meeting, Roh reportedly instructed the group to form two task forces, one for organizing relevant organizations and agencies to implement innovative measures for KorVA, and another for supporting roles, the former led by the presidential senior secretary for civil affairs, and the latter by the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

The two task forces comprise presidential secretaries and senior officials from a dozen major government ministries, including the MOPVA, MOD and the MOFE, the same source said.

The two task forces met twice on December 11 and 14 to outline roles of each ministry and timetable for the KorVA innovation effort. Each organization comprising the TFs submitted an action plan for the KorVA innovation project signed by the head of the pertinent agency.

ysh1005@donga.com myzodan@donga.com