"More Serious Livelihood Issues Than Erasing the Previous Administration"
Woo Sang-ho, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 17th and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Woo Sang-ho, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 17th, virtually expressed refusal regarding the People Power Party's demand to review materials sealed as presidential records related to the so-called 'West Sea Public Official Killing Incident' by North Korean forces.
Materials from the National Security Office sealed as presidential records can only be accessed with the approval of two-thirds of the National Assembly members or a warrant from the Seoul High Court Chief Judge.
Chairman Woo stated, "As a ruling party member at the time of the incident, I received detailed reports and am well aware of the contents," adding, "The related intelligence agencies possessed intercepted communications or SI (Special Intelligence) materials that suggested defection to the North, which led to the conclusion of defection, while some agencies claimed they did not have such materials."
He continued, "Choosing which report to rely on is a matter of intelligence judgment, not political strategy or ideology."
In particular, Chairman Woo noted, "There are quite a few disagreements among intelligence agencies, and they sometimes dispute over North Korean movements or the possibility of nuclear tests," adding, "Various information is compiled, and the National Security Office Director, who oversees intelligence, sometimes makes decisions in a specific direction. Why is this an issue at this point?"
Chairman Woo also said, "It seems the Yoon Seok-yeol administration has set a direction to erase the previous administration, but is now the time to do that? Isn't the livelihood of the people serious?" He emphasized, "They seem to want to portray the previous Moon Jae-in administration as having cowered to North Korea, but at that time, the Moon administration strongly protested the sacrifice of the people and unusually received an apology from Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea. It was not about kowtowing to North Korea but about subduing it."
He added, "Why is it important whether that person intended to defect to the North or not? Our citizen was sacrificed by North Korea, and we protested and received an apology to conclude the matter," and criticized, "At the center of all investigations into past administration corruption, investigations related to the Moon Jae-in government, or investigations targeting Assemblyman Lee Jae-myung, is President Yoon Seok-yeol. And his right-hand man has always been Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon."
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