Lee says he would consider meeting with bereaved family of S. Korean official murdered by N. Korea in 2020
Lee Jong-seok, the nominee to be the director of the National Intelligence Service, faced scrutiny over his past acquaintance with a former deputy governor convicted over illegal cash transfers to North Korea at his confirmation hearing Thursday.
At the hearing, Lee was asked about his past ties to former Gyeonggi Province Deputy Gov. Lee Hwa-young, who served when President Lee Jae Myung was governor of the province. The former deputy gov. was sentenced to 7 years and 8 months in prison for a 2019-20 scheme to transfer funds to the North.
Prosecutors allege that the president, when he was governor, used the undergarment maker Ssangbangwool to send $8 million to North Korea. Lee has consistently denied any wrongdoing or involvement in the case.
The NIS director nominee and the former deputy governor had worked together at the inter-Korean peace committee at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office since 2018. The nominee said he knew the former deputy governor strictly in a professional capacity and that he had no knowledge of the scheme at all.
When asked about his past public remarks opposing the introduction of THAAD, the US antiballistic missile defense system and GSOMIA, the intelligence-sharing framework with Japan, the nominee said he believes that those were "things that are already agreed upon and should be complied with."
Lee said that the foundation of South Korea's security is its alliance with the US. "That is the stance of the Lee Jae Myung administration, and I believe the same," he said.
In response to The Korea Herald's question after the confirmation hearing, Lee said that he would be open to meeting with the bereaved family of a South Korean fisheries official who was shot dead by North Korean troops at sea in September 2020.
"I have not yet looked into the matter, but I would consider it," the nominee said.
In Wednesday's prehearing brief, seen exclusively by The Korea Herald, Lee said if he is appointed as the director, he would "look into" the shooting murder of the South Korean official. He was responding to a lawmaker's question about his stance on the case.
In 2022, the NIS filed a criminal complaint against its former director Park Jie-won, who is now a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, for allegedly destroying the spy agency's confidential materials related to the South Korean official's death. Park denies all allegations.
The criminal trial for Park and other high-level officials at the time is ongoing.
In the prehearing brief, Lee also denied the accusations that he was lenient toward North Korea. "I absolutely cannot agree with the claims that I am pro-North Korea only because I have studied North Korea and the Korean Peninsula in depth," he said.
Lee served as minister of inter-Korean affairs under the late former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun in 2006.
The post of the director of the NIS requires confirmation by the National Assembly.
arin@heraldcorp.com
