Pres. Park urges National Intelligence Service to reform

President Park Geun-hye strongly urged Monday reform of the National Intelligence Service that is mired in disputes over illegally posting messages at the presidential election last year and disclosing the 2007 inter-Korean summit minutes.

At a meeting with senior secretaries, President Park said, "The National Intelligence Service has been at the center of dispute since previous administrations. Now is time it revamps itself."

"The purpose of foundation of the National Intelligence Service is to guarantee the security of the nation and its people. Amid ongoing South-North conflicts, I hope the National Intelligence Service devote to strengthening North Korea information function and responding to cyber terrorism, as well as guarding economic security. It should aggressively take on the role of reforming itself and self-devise reform plans."

It is the first time President Park mentioned reform of the National Intelligence Service since the illegal posting incident emerged, going further to hint at reducing or abolishing its political role.

The president`s remarks are judged as a preemptive action for a head-on breakthrough against opposition parties` attacks and to care for the public.

She said, "Six months have passed since the presidential election and the nation is still mired in confusion over alleged postings by the National Intelligence Service and Northern Limit Line incident."

On the alleged postings, the president said, "It is necessary to accurately find out why this happened and what really happened. Since the leading and opposition parties began national affairs audit, they should make efforts to thoroughly examine suspicions to prevent the case from happening again. Then, consumptive disputes should stop to politicians can take the initiative in stabilizing the public`s livelihood." On the Northern Limit Line dispute, she said, "If we give this to North Korea, we could lose our territory to the North. This is why our younger people are risking their lives to guard it," adding, "The political sector should clearly define its will to defend the Northern Limit Line to prevent further disputes and division."

An official at the Presidential Office said, "President Park has no reason to hide (posting issue) since she played fairly the presidential election without help from the previous administration. Reforming the National Intelligence Service is also her long-time consideration that she has no reason to delay it."