Park Ji-won "Doubtful if the blade will turn toward former President Moon"
Yoon Gun-young "Showing what happens to competent officials... Yoon government will suffer"
Seo Hoon, former director of the Blue House National Security Office, is attending the pre-arrest interrogation related to the 'West Sea Public Official Shooting Incident' held at the Seoul Central District Court on the morning of the 2nd. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The opposition parties are expressing concern that the arrest of former National Security Office Director Seo Hoon in connection with the ‘West Sea Civil Servant Killing Incident’ is targeting former President Moon Jae-in. The opposition warned that the arrest of Seo, a diplomatic and security expert, could also harm the foreign and security policies of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
On the 5th, former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won appeared on KBS Radio’s ‘Choi Kyung-young’s Strongest Current Affairs’ and said, "The blade of this regime is aimed at former President Moon for pro-communist activities and at Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, for corruption," but added, "I doubt whether it will actually be directed at former President Moon." Park said, "The blade will be aimed at former President Moon, but with the arrest of former Director Seo, isn’t there a phrase about the ultimate responsible person and decision-maker?" He continued, "They will try to aim at former President Moon, but out of respect for a former president, I don’t think it will go that far."
Park, who was the sitting NIS director at the time of the West Sea civil servant killing incident, said regarding the prosecution’s summons, "If I am contacted, I will go and tell the facts, but I have not been contacted yet."
Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Gun-young also appeared on CBS Radio’s Kim Hyun-jung News Show and said, "The tip of the political retaliation spear currently being carried out by the Yoon Suk-yeol government is aimed at former President Moon, and I believe it is intended to disgrace and insult key figures of the Moon Jae-in administration." Yoon alleged, "It appears that the Presidential Office is behind the West Sea civil servant incident. Moreover, the prosecution is investigating not only the West Sea civil servant incident but also comprehensive cases during the Moon administration such as the opening of the four major rivers’ weirs, the Wolseong nuclear power plant, and the expulsion of heinous criminals from the East Sea."
Concerns were also raised that Seo’s arrest could cause difficulties in diplomacy and security. Park said, "I worked with former Director Seo as a special envoy preparing for the 2000 inter-Korean summit. Even if President Yoon cannot put forward an expert like Seo when contacting North Korea, he can at least seek his advice, making Seo a key asset." He added, "I think U.S. intelligence agencies and even North Korea would be quite regretful about this." He continued, "It is very unfortunate and wrong that such incidents occur every time the regime changes in a divided country regarding inter-Korean issues. These human assets are experts, not politicians, and they are not criminals."
Lawmaker Yoon also said, "As you know, former Director Seo is a North Korea expert who served over 30 years at the National Intelligence Service and is one of South Korea’s top experts." He rebutted, "The prosecution is trying to frame the sharing of SI intelligence as a defection to the North and is twisting the request for security maintenance into data deletion." He added, "I firmly believe that after the arrest of former Director Seo Hoon, there will be no proper intelligence or information analysis in South Korea. Seeing what happens to those who actively work and analyze intelligence under these circumstances will discourage diligent public officials from working, which will be detrimental to the Yoon Suk-yeol government."
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