[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Hong Joon-pyo, mayor of Daegu and senior advisor of the ruling party, raised his voice regarding the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant for Seo Hoon, former director of the Blue House National Security Office and the diplomatic and security chief of the Moon Jae-in administration, saying, "I hope the North Korean intelligence agency, which is practically on the brink of collapse, will now return to normal operation."
On the 30th, Mayor Hong stated on his social media service (SNS), "Seo, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief who degraded the NIS, a North Korean counterintelligence agency, into a North Korean cooperation organization from the Roh Moo-hyun administration through the Moon Jae-in administration, has had an arrest warrant requested for abuse of authority and other charges."
The day before, the prosecution announced that it had requested an arrest warrant for former National Security Office chief Seo on charges including abuse of authority, obstruction of the exercise of official duties, and forgery and use of false official documents. This is the first time an arrest warrant has been requested for a senior official of the previous administration's Blue House.
Mayor Hong expressed hope that, through this incident, the National Intelligence Service would be reborn as the "K-CIA" and become a proper national intelligence agency.
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