[Comprehensive] 'Political Master' Park Ji-won, Can He Overcome the Opposition's Full-Scale Attack on His Inappropriate North Korea Policy?

From Sniper to Defender... Park Ji-won Hearing Today (27th)

Park Ji-won, Candidate for Director of the National Intelligence Service [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] The National Assembly Intelligence Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Park Ji-won, the nominee for the Director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), on the 27th. The opposition party plans to focus on probing allegations of academic forgery, preferential treatment for attending university during military service, illegal political funds, and views on North Korea.

The key point to watch in Park's hearing is how his political skills, known as the so-called '9-dan of politics,' will withstand the opposition lawmakers' pointed questions. This is why the hearing is described as a clash between a seasoned politician and a full-scale offensive by the opposition.

Another nickname for Park is the '9-time champion of confirmation hearings.' He has caused nine nominees, from prime minister candidates to prosecutors general candidates, to fall.

During the Lee Myung-bak administration, he brought down candidates including Kim Tae-ho for Prime Minister, Shin Jae-min for Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Lee Jae-hoon for Minister of Knowledge Economy, Jeong Dong-gi for Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, and Cheon Seong-gwan for Prosecutor General. Under the Park Geun-hye administration, he also blocked candidates such as Moon Chang-geuk for Prime Minister, Kim Byung-hwa for Supreme Court Justice, and Lee Dong-heup for Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court.

Notably, during the 2009 confirmation process of Cheon Seong-gwan as Prosecutor General nominee, Park obtained internal information from the Immigration Office and Customs Service and even exposed a list of duty-free shop items, launching a full-scale offensive. Cheon ultimately failed to pass the hearing.

In the process of verifying Kim Tae-ho for Prime Minister, Park raised the controversy over a golf meeting involving the chairman of Taekwang Industrial. This also started from a tip Park received.

Chairman Jeon Hae-cheol of the Intelligence Committee and lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties are attending the full meeting of the Intelligence Committee held on the morning of the 20th at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul.
On this day, the Intelligence Committee discussed agenda items including the adoption of the plan for the confirmation hearing of the National Intelligence Service Director candidate (Park Ji-won). [Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ United Future Party, 'Representing North Korea's Position,' Views Park as 'Unfit' for NIS Director

The United Future Party plans to highlight Park's involvement in the North Korean remittance case and rigorously scrutinize his qualifications and views on North Korea. They argue that Park has previously represented or defended North Korea's position regarding the Cheonan incident and served a prison sentence related to the North Korean remittance case, deeming him unfit for the NIS director position.

On the 19th, Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, attending the 55th memorial ceremony for former President Rhee Syngman, described Park as "someone who has friendly relations with the enemy and even colludes with the enemy."

On that day, Floor Leader Joo continuously pressed Park. He said, "I cannot understand at all what the president was thinking when appointing former lawmaker Park," effectively signaling a full-scale offensive during the confirmation hearing.

He also criticized on his Facebook post, "Park was involved in remitting 45 million dollars to North Korea in exchange for the inter-Korean summit and was convicted," questioning, "Is colluding with North Korea a form of expertise?"

Additionally, the United Future Party continues to raise suspicions about Park's academic background, noting that he graduated from Gwangju National University of Education and later transferred to Dankook University.

In response, Park explained, "I was unaware of the error in the Dankook University documents caused during the manual and computerized processing, and later corrected it after realizing the mistake," adding, "After transferring, due to emergency measures following the June 3rd uprising, universities did not open, so I voluntarily enlisted in the army in April of the same year."

Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the Future United Party and the Information Committee's secretary, claimed on the afternoon of the 26th at the 4th joint meeting of the Future United Party Information Committee members and the advisory panel for Park Ji-won, the nominee for the National Intelligence Service director, held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul, that "Park Ji-won transferred to Dankook University in February 1965 and said the semester did not start due to a school closure, but upon checking the Dankook University student newspaper at the time, the semester did start." [Image source=Yonhap News]

In response to Park's explanation, Ha Tae-kyung, a United Future Party lawmaker, said at a joint meeting of the party's hearing advisory group and the Intelligence Committee held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 26th, "Looking at the transcript submitted by Park, he did not take any required major courses."

He added, "Whether in the past or now, to graduate from university, one must complete at least the required major courses. However, of the 163 credits Park earned, 100 were liberal arts courses, and 63 were elective major courses," he pointed out.

Kim Geun-sik, head of the United Future Party's hearing advisory group, questioned, "The graduation certificate submitted by Park shows the enrollment date as September 1, 1965. He claimed to have attended from the first semester of 1965, so how is the graduation certificate dated September 1965?"

He continued, "The fact is that he registered with false documents claiming to have attended Chosun University for five semesters, then started attending from September 1965. Later, in 2000, he retroactively changed it to Chosun University," he asserted.

In his written response, Park stated that the National Security Act must be maintained to respond to North Korea's anti-South operations. He also expressed trust in the government's announcement that the Cheonan incident was caused by North Korea and expressed regret over North Korea's destruction of the Kaesong Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office.

Meanwhile, the hearing is expected to proceed without witnesses. Regarding this, Lawmaker Ha criticized, "It is literally a blind confirmation hearing." Among the ten witnesses requested by the United Future Party, the only one accepted, Lee Geon-su, chairman of Dong-A Telecom, submitted a letter of non-attendance to the National Assembly. Lee, a supporter of Park, is reported to have conveyed that he is unable to attend due to health reasons.