The
problem of course is that their NSA is super paranoid and is directly
meddling in the electoral process. Of course, the political system
has to rein this entity in as well as a lot more besides.
In
the meantime, everyone plays fast and loose with history, during the
Korean War, the communist made outright genocide of defeated
opponents a state practice and left slews of adherents behind as they
pulled back. Today we have solved the problem by using reeducation
camps which is essentially a five year incarceration for brainwashing
while the rest of the country gets itself back together. It worked
to end Nazism and end conflict with the south Vietnamese.
It
is not nice but the alternative is the industrial grade firing squad.
What this does tell
us is that democratic systems are still maturing the political life
of the state and much remains to be done.
Political
Firestorm in South Korea
Actions
by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) have generated
a political furor
Global
Research, September 13, 2013
Actions
by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) have generated
a political furor that is growing by the day, pitting the ruling New
Frontier Party against the main opposition Democratic Party and
threatening the existence of the Unified Progressive Party.
The
NIS intervened in the election of December 2012 in an endeavor to
bring victory to conservative candidates. NIS director Won Sei-hoon
ordered the agency’s psychological warfare division to launch a
campaign to discredit liberal and left political candidates. Agents
were instructed to each create three or four posts on the internet
per day, praising the ruling party and attacking the opposition.
Three teams were tasked to carry out this mission, and one team alone
generated an average of 1,200 to 1,600 posts per month. Won was
motivated by a paranoid McCarthyist frame of mind, and he was heard
to say, “If there is a person or a force which condemns the
government and the ruling party, they are no different from North
Korea even if they are our citizens.”
The
psychological warfare teams used IP switching software to prevent
tracking. Many of the posts smeared liberal and left candidates as
“followers of North Korea.” According to South Korean
investigators working with the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s
Office, the NIS utilized software to generate millions of automated
tweets and re-tweets of their postings, flooding the internet.
In
a further boost to the campaign of presidential candidate Park
Geun-hye and other conservative candidates, the NIS leaked excerpts
from a classified document to the press and to the ruling New
Frontier Party, containing a transcript taken from the October 2007
meetings between liberal South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun and
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The excerpts leaked by the NIS dealt
with discussions of the Northern Limit Line, the western maritime
border between the two Koreas. The NIS intentionally distorted the
excerpts it provided and fabricated content in order to make it
appear that Roh was offering to turn over South Korean territorial
waters to North Korea, expecting the resulting outcry to damage the
chances of liberal presidential candidate Moon Jae-in.
The
NIS removed a statement from the version leaked to the New Frontier
Party, in which Roh stated that the Northern Limit Line should not be
changed. In another example, the NIS spliced together a phrase from a
morning session with a phrase from an afternoon session so as to
misrepresent Roh’s position. The NIS also altered words and
phrases, and inserted content of its own invention into the
transcript in order to discredit the liberal candidates.
Two
days before the December 19 election, Kim Moo-seong, head of Park’s
election campaign, publicly revealed quotes from the fabricated
transcript, and angrily announced that he was “filled with
indignation” over its content. His comments received broad media
coverage, which helped to swing votes in favor of Park.
It
was not until after the election that the extent of NIS meddling was
revealed, and Won Sei-hoon was indicted in June. In response to
demands by opposition parties that the NIS be reformed, President
Park Geun-hye merely asked the agency to come up with a proposal to
reform itself. Public anger swelled, and demonstrators
packed Seoul Plaza for weekly candlelight demonstrations, calling for
the NIS to be brought under control. Before long, candlelight
demonstrations spread to cities and towns throughout South Korea, and
it was clear the issue would not go away.
The
Unified Progressive Party was at the forefront of efforts to reform
the National Intelligence Service. In July, I was among a group of
international guests who met with members of the Unified Progressive
Party, including Representative Lee Seok-ki. A man with an infectious
smile, he joked with us that he was the most hated person in the
National Assembly. The conservatives loathed Lee for his
outspokenness about the need to reform the National Intelligence
Service. Nor had they forgiven him for the leading role he played in
stopping the nomination of Korean-American Kim Jeong-hoon for a
ministerial post in the South Korean government, due to Kim’s
service as an advisor to the CIA and as director of In-Q-tel, a
technology company that works closely with the CIA. Retribution
against Lee Seok-ki would not be long in coming.
As
the debate over the NIS in the National Assembly intensified and
militant mass demonstrations continued to call for reform, the
National Intelligence Service struck back on August 28, raiding the
homes and offices of 18 members of the Unified Progressive Party.
Three party officials were arrested and charged with treason. As the
principal target for vengeance, Lee Seok-ki would later be arrested
after a vote in the National Assembly stripped him of immunity.
Wild
claims were made, as the
NIS charged that Lee headed a group called the “Revolutionary
Organization,” which it said was planning an armed uprising in the
event of war with North Korea.
The quotations attributed to Lee were provocative, and were said to
originate from a recording provided by an informer who attended two
meetings of a local branch of the Unified Progressive Party on May 10
and 12.
In
a familiar pattern, the NIS illegally leaked selected excerpts to the
New Frontier Party and media outlets. The result was as intended, and
a furious trial by media ensued, even though the courts had not yet
ruled on the admissibility of the transcript as evidence. Lee claimed
that he was innocent of all charges, and the NIS had fabricated the
quotations it had attributed to him. He charged the NIS with engaging
in “political persecution” against his party.
Lee
Jung-hee, chairperson of the Unified Progressive Party, announced at
a press conference, “The Blue House, facing an unprecedented
crisis, and the National Intelligence Service, on the eve of its
dissolution after being exposed of rigging the last election, are
conducting a Yushin era witch hunt in the 21st century. This is
an attempt to silence the candlelight protests as the truth of the
fraudulent crimes of the National Intelligence Service are exposed,
and voices demanding accountability from President Park Geun-hye
intensify.” Lee warned, “Just as they accused all citizens who
supported the opposition in the last election as ‘pro-North
sympathizers’, they will try to crush and eliminate all democratic
forces by labeling them criminal insurgents.”
There
were those who questioned the timing of the raid. The NIS claimed
that it had been investigating Lee Seok-ki for three years, and the
meetings that provided its rationale took place three and a half
months beforehand. Why was this moment chosen, they wondered? The NIS
was on the ropes. The National Assembly had completed its
investigation of the NIS, and the opposition parties were demanding
that the NIS should be banned from domestic intelligence gathering.
According to a source familiar with the functioning of the NIS, “This
investigation looks suspiciously like an attempt by the NIS to
justify its existence. It may be intended to block efforts to reduce
and eliminate the agency’s domestic and investigative branches,
which are at its heart.”
The
Unified Progressive Party conducted its own fact-finding
investigation into the May 10 and 12 meetings which had been
organized by the party chair of the Gyeong-gi province chapter. Party
members attended a lecture by Lee Seok-ki and participated in
discussions about the situation on the Korean Peninsula. In a press
conference, party chair Lee Jung-hee declared, “There is no
evidence whatsoever that the 130 people in attendance are part of a
so-called Revolutionary Organization. There is only the NIS’
allegation, as it attempts to bury our party through a baseless trial
by media.” Party members denied that the Revolutionary Organization
existed, and accused the NIS of concocting the name as a means of
adding a sinister tone to the proceedings.
In
talking with those who attended the meetings, party officials
investigating the matter found that many of the statements quoted in
the media differed substantially from the actual words. It was
apparent that the NIS was once again manufacturing “evidence.”
At
one of the May meetings, there were seven simultaneous small group
discussions, and the NIS informer was able to record comments only in
the session he attended. Lee Jung-hee pointed out, “An inquiry into
the discussions of the six other small groups revealed that they were
quite different from the conversation in the group that was recorded.
Their conversations were about the immediate difficulties they would
face in trying to sustain life in the event of war, ways to survive,
and the need to raise public consciousness to oppose war and realize
peace; there was no discussion of acquiring weapons or destroying
vital facilities.”
Some
of those in attendance recalled that at the beginning of the Korean
War, the South Korean government rounded up leftists and executed
them by the thousands. Some estimates place the number of dead as
high as 100,000. They expressed concern over a potential repeat if a
new war arose, given how the conservatives consistently branded their
party as “servants of North Korea” and “terrorists.”
In
the discussion that was recorded, two hotheads suggested arming
themselves and destroying facilities in the event of war. Other group
members roundly rejected these comments, saying that such actions
were not an option. One group member responded, “Getting firearms
is nonsensical and destroying a radar base with high technology and
hacking is too.” Those who advocated force were ridiculed by the
others.
“Please
look what the participants did after the meeting,” Lee Jung-hee
urged. “They did not do anything related to taking over guns or
preparing to destroy communications. Even though the NIS put a lot of
manpower and money into the raid, it found nothing like a gun or a
disturbance device.”
The
only evidence for the charges made against the Unified Progressive
Party is the video, and we only have the word of the NIS for its
content. There is nothing to corroborate the cherry-picked and
fabricated quotations that it has leaked. Lee Jung-hee believes the
video recording may never be made publicly available. Because no
warrant was issued, there is a good chance that the courts may rule
the recording inadmissible as evidence.
She
called on the NIS to release the original video in its entirety –
and without manipulation – so that people could ascertain the truth
of the matter and judge for themselves. “While the NIS did not
present the original video, a reckless trial in the court of public
opinion has happened. The NIS did not precisely follow legal
procedures, and they have infringed on judiciary rights by leaking
collected evidence illegally, which violates the defendants’ rights
that are guaranteed in a normal judiciary process.”
“The
most important thing is truth,” Lee continued. “Even if we are in
a bad situation, there should be no editing or deleting the facts.”
The
ruling New Frontier Party is using the dubious charges against the
Unified Progressive Party to achieve its own political aims. It
called upon the Democratic Party to end its participation in the mass
demonstrations against the National Intelligence Service. For its
part, the NIS is expected to argue that the charges against the
Unified Progressive Party prove that it ought to retain authority to
conduct domestic surveillance and intelligence gathering.
The
New Frontier Party has filed a motion in the National Assembly to
strip Lee Seok-ki of his seat, despite the fact that his trial has
not yet taken place and in South Korea one is legally presumed to be
innocent until proven guilty.
In
a gross violation of democratic principles, moves are afoot to
forcibly disband the Unified Progressive Party. The leadership of the
New Frontier Party has asked its members to obtain data in support of
that action. In May, conservative groups filed petitions to have the
Unified Progressive Party banned. The Ministry of Justice is looking
into the possibility of responding to those requests and asking the
Constitutional Court to rule in favor of dissolving the Unified
Progressive Party.
There
is no question that the ruling party finds the views of the Unified
Progressive Party distasteful, and it would be delighted to remove
the party from the political scene. If the Unified Progressive Party
is disbanded, its 100,000 members will be cast adrift from direct
participation in the political process.
According
to party literature, among the Unified Progressive Party’s goals is
to “create a new society in which progressive democracy is
established.” The party “has campaigned for free education, free
healthcare, and tax on the wealthy as progressive alternatives.” It
advocates an end to privatization and a strengthening of public
services. The Unified Progressive Party “is the only one that
identifies itself as a party for independence, peace and
reunification in keeping with the vision” of joint South
Korea-North Korea declarations. The strongest advocates of such
values will be silenced if the ruling party has its way.
Representative
Lee Seok-ki is undergoing daily grilling by the NIS. Like other
members of the Unified Progressive Party who are being interrogated,
he is refusing to respond to all questions as a protest against
political persecution. Reports indicate that the NIS is strongly
considering adding an additional charge against Lee, aiding the
enemy, which would carry with it a potential death penalty. Lee may
be fighting not only for justice, but also his very life.
If
it is not reined in, and soon, the National Intelligence Service
could take the nation down the path to repression once again. When
South Korea was under military rule, for an individual to advocate
progressive policies was an invitation to arrest, torture, and in
some cases execution. The years-long struggle for democracy in South
Korea brought a hard-won victory. The ruling New Frontier Party
cannot be allowed to throw away that victory.
Gregory
Elich is on the board of directors of the Jasenovac Research
Institute and the advisory board of the Korea Policy Institute. He is
the author of Strange
Liberators: Militarism, Mayhem, and the Pursuit of Profit.
The
author is grateful to Hyun Lee, co-producer of the Asia-Pacific Forum
program on WBAI, and the Korean Alliance of Progressive Movements,
for providing translations of source material.
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