Kim Geun-sik: "Choo, Claiming Court's Data Collection Is Illegal Surveillance? Stop Lying So Much"

On July 16th, at the Future United Party's 'Second Meeting of the Advisory Panel for Nominee Park Ji-won, Director of the National Intelligence Service, and the Intelligence Committee' held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Advisory Panel Chairman Kim Geun-sik is speaking. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] Kim Geun-sik, head of the People Power Party's Songpa-byeong district committee in Seoul, criticized on the 27th, "The Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Investigation Information Policy Office's collection of trial court data being called illegal surveillance from the authoritarian era is absurd. Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae should stop lying."

Kim said, "Illegal surveillance during the authoritarian era involved tailing, wiretapping, threats, and illegal information gathering to monitor and suppress anti-government figures. It was a control and surveillance tool of the Big Brother military dictatorship regime," adding, "After democratization, illegal surveillance cases include the 1990 incident where Private Yoon Seok-yang of the Security Command exposed civilian surveillance by the Security Command, and the civilian tailing surveillance incident by the Office for Government Ethics under the Prime Minister's Office during the MB administration."

He continued, "The data collection by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Investigation Information Policy Office, which Minister Choo claims is the same as illegal surveillance from the authoritarian era, is fundamentally different from the Security Command surveillance or the tailing surveillance during the MB period," and said, "It is information gathered publicly as reference material to maintain prosecution in major trials and secure guilty verdicts."

He added, "There is no illegality in the 'intent' and 'method' of the data collection; it is a legitimate activity," and criticized, "Minister Choo, who insists that data collection within the legitimate scope of work for trial support is no different from authoritarian illegal surveillance, please stop making such unreasonable claims. If this is the level of your stubbornness, a dad joke would suit you better."

Earlier, Minister Choo stated in a position paper that morning, "Considering the seriousness and gravity of the illegal surveillance documents targeting judges that undermine constitutional values, I had no choice but to take a suspension from duty," and added, "It was difficult to find any difference from illegal surveillance by intelligence agencies during past authoritarian regimes."