Ruling Party: "NIS Uncovers Materials to Reveal Truth Behind Ssangbangwool North Korea Remittance"... Opposition Protests

Interim Report on NIS Special Audit Presented to Intelligence Committee
NIS Discovers North Korea Remittance Documents Not Submitted to Prosecution
Recommendation Made Not to Designate Lee Jae-myung Attack as Terrorism

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) announced on September 2, 2025, that through a special audit, it had newly confirmed an intelligence document indicating that Kim Sung-tae, former chairman of Ssangbangwool Group, attempted stock price manipulation under the pretext of business projects with North Korea, as well as evidence that Ssangbangwool had employed North Korean workers.

On September 26, 2023, Lee Jae-myung, then leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, appeared at the pre-arrest detention hearing related to allegations of preferential treatment in the Baekhyeon-dong development project and involvement in the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu. Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@

Park Sunwon, a Democratic Party of Korea member and secretary of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee, met with reporters after receiving the NIS's interim special audit report at the committee's plenary session on this day. He stated, "The NIS has newly discovered materials that could help reveal the truth behind the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case."

Assemblyman Park said, "Recent NIS materials, which have not been submitted to the prosecution, indicate that Ssangbangwool employed North Korean workers," and added, "An intelligence document has been newly discovered, showing that former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim and An Busoo, chairman of the Asia-Pacific Peace Exchange Association, attempted to manipulate stock prices under the pretext of North Korea-related business projects."

The Democratic Party of Korea announced that it would submit the newly discovered internal NIS reports to the court if requested by the judiciary.

Regarding the case of the killing of a public official in the West Sea, Assemblyman Park said, "Former NIS Director Kim Kyu-hyun gave a face-to-face report to former President Yoon Sukyeol, and it has been confirmed that former President Yoon instructed to file complaints against former NIS Directors Park Jie-won and Suh Hoon."

The West Sea public official killing incident refers to the case in September 2020, when Lee Dae-jun, a public official with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries' Fisheries Management Division, went missing near Soyeonpyeongdo in the West Sea and was shot and killed by North Korean soldiers. At the time, the Moon Jae-in administration concluded it was a voluntary defection to North Korea, but after the Yoon Sukyeol administration took office, the Board of Audit and Inspection announced that the Moon administration had concealed the incident.

Assemblyman Park stated, "The previous administration's (Yoon Sukyeol administration) NIS concluded that former Director Park Jie-won had ordered the deletion of related intelligence and reports to cover up the West Sea public official killing, but a large number of reports have since emerged indicating that former Director Park did not actually order the deletions."

He continued, "In fact, even at this moment, a significant number of the original special intelligence, reports, and documents that were reportedly deleted at the time still exist within the NIS, along with their copies."

Regarding the stabbing incident of Lee Jae-myung, then leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, in Busan in January last year, Assemblyman Park said, "The NIS continuously requested the police to share details of the suspect's investigation, but it was confirmed that the Busan police refused to grant access. As a result, the NIS was unable to properly investigate the terrorism allegations and withdrew from the scene."

Assemblyman Park added, "At that time, an NIS legal advisor submitted a report recommending that the attack not be designated as a terrorist act, arguing that there would be no practical benefit in doing so."

Assemblyman Park also stated, "It has been confirmed that there was no evidence of distortion in the memo written by Hong Jangwon, former First Deputy Director of the NIS, during the martial law period," and explained, "As for martial law, there is still no evidence that the previous administration's NIS was involved in the preparation or execution of martial law."

Regarding Baek Jongwook, former Third Deputy Director of the NIS, who inspected the National Election Commission's voting and counting system, Assemblyman Park said, "There is evidence suggesting perjury during testimony at the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial. When asked whether he had reported suspicions of election fraud to the president, he replied, 'I don't remember,' but in fact, he had reported it."

Jangwon Hong, former First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, appeared as a witness and spoke at the fifth hearing of President Yoon Sukyeol's impeachment trial held at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on February 4. Photo by Yonhap News

The People Power Party protested the NIS's special audit report.

Lee Sungkwon, secretary of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee for the People Power Party, said, "People Power Party lawmakers strongly raised issues with the special audit report mentioned by Assemblyman Park," and emphasized, "We cannot help but question whether there is a political motive behind special audits, as every change of administration seems to involve criticizing and punishing previous administrations."

He continued, "Reporting on politically sensitive issues before the final results are available is problematic," and added, "In particular, we made it clear that the somewhat definitive tone regarding the North Korea remittance issue related to President Lee Jae-myung's trial is a matter of significant concern."

In response, Assemblyman Park countered, "Democratic Party lawmakers expressed dissatisfaction, saying that the audit results are extremely inadequate and merely a patchwork, and that there are signs of minimizing and distorting the incidents, so a more thorough audit is needed."