[코리아헤럴드=김아린 기자] 국회 정보위원회 국민의힘 간사인 유상범 의원이 문재인 정부 시절 국가정보원이 대북 정보· 감청 대신 남북 간 대화를 위한 도구로 이용됐다고 주장했다. 유 의원은 지난 18일 서울 여의도 국회의원회관에서 진행된 본지와의 인터뷰에서 “대북 정보기관 본연의 업무는 외면하고 ‘북한 올인’ 정책을 뒷바라지하는 존재로 전락했던 것이 문재인 정부의 국정원”이라며 지난 정부가 “보이지 않는 곳에서 국가 안보를 위해 헌신해야 할 국정원 요원들을 대북 지원이나 북한 고위급 방문단 수행에 활용했다”고 말했다. 그러면서 “간첩 수사와 대북 공작을 담당했던 직원들을 ‘적폐’ 취급하며 퇴직 시키거나 일선 업무에서 배제해 조직을 무력화 시켰다”며 “‘정보 기관’을 ‘남북 대화 창구’로 변질 시킨 문재인 정부 핵

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s only publicly seen child, Ju-ae, is stirring up ire among local people there for her extravagant clothing and well-fed appearance, according to Rep. Yoo Sang-bum, the executive secretary of the National Assembly intelligence committee. South Korea's National Intelligence Service believes that Kim’s daughter, officially referred to by the North Korean government as the “most beloved child,” is becoming increasingly resented by many in

The Pentagon leak suggesting the US was eavesdropping on top South Korean officials is being overblown by the opposition for domestic political gains ahead of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s White House visit, according to the National Assembly intelligence committee’s Executive Secretary Rep. Yoo Sang-bum. Speaking to The Korea Herald at his office in Seoul’s Yeouido, Yoo of the ruling People Power Party said that a “closed-door” approach to the leak would be appropriate

The Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers on Thursday slammed the National Intelligence Service for declining to comment on the leak of classified US documents detailing an internal conversation between top South Korean officials. The party's lawmakers used their majority to convene a plenary session on the Assembly’s intelligence committee unilaterally and accused the NIS of failing to provide an adequate explanation for the alleged US spying on the office of President Yoon Suk Yeol. R

South Korea lawmakers on Wednesday condemned North Korea’s cyberattacks outside the North Korean Embassy in the UK. The member-lawmakers on the International Parliamentarians’ Coalition for Asian Human Rights -- Reps. Ha Tae-keung, Yang Jung-suk and Yun Chang-hyun -- issued an open letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, read outside the embassy. “We ask Kim Jong-un to stop the hack attacks against the international community immediately. You are mobilizing all of your resou

Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers on Monday urged President Yoon Suk Yeol to fire principal deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo over his response to a recent US intelligence leak. In a written request submitted to the presidential office, the party’s lawmakers accused Kim of failing to apply sufficient verification before concluding that the leaked Pentagon documents had been forged. “The Yoon administration, which has consistently kept up its kowtowing diplomacy, passed o

South Korea’s two main parties came together Sunday to remember the sinking of the Sewol ferry on April 16, 2014, which left 304 dead -- many of them high school students on a field trip. “Nine years have passed but the memories of the tragedy are still with us. That day, all of us were praying for everyone’s safe return,” the ruling People Power Party chief spokesperson Rep. Kang Min-kuk said in a statement mourning the victims. “Our deepest condolences to the bere

Kim Jin-pyo, the speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, said the success of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s bid to improve ties with Japan hinges on reciprocation from his counterpart, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Speaking with The Korea Herald and its sister publication, Herald Business, on Wednesday, Kim said that Yoon’s deal with Japan in the summit with Kishida last month reflected “significant resolve” on the part of the South Korean president. “It is a d

Kazuhiro Araki, the head of a support group for families of Japanese abducted by North Korea, on Thursday met with Lee Rae-jin, the older brother of the South Korean official who was slain near the inter-Korean sea border in September 2020. Araki, who is visiting Seoul, spoke with Lee and his lawyer Kim Ki-yun for about two hours at People Power Party Rep. Ha Tae-keung’s office to discuss plans for a meeting with Japanese families of the missing. “I think it will be empowering for vi

The presidential office said Monday it would request "appropriate measures" from the US if necessary after the two countries finish assessing allegations that the US intelligence agency had wiretapped the South Korean government. The US reports that brought the spying allegations to light are "not confirmed fact," a senior official from the presidential office told reporters, stressing that fact-checking must come first. It is also difficult to rule out the possibility that i

The minor Progressive Party, deemed to be more left-wing than the National Assembly’s majority-holding Democratic Party of Korea or the Justice Party, has returned to the National Assembly. The party’s Rep. Kang Sung-hee won 39 percent of the votes in Jeonju, a liberal constituency in North Jeolla Province, in a by-election on Wednesday, beating her Democratic Party-affiliated rival, who earned 32 percent. It took the Progressive Party, which was the Unified Progressive Party in a fo

The ruling People Power Party on Friday elected police officer-turned-lawmaker Rep. Yun Jae-ok as its new floor leader. Yun won the majority of votes from fellow lawmakers of the party, with 65 out of the 109 present, in a two-horse race against his competitor, the four-time lawmaker Rep. Kim Hack-yong. In 2012, Yun became the first graduate of the Korean National Police University to win a National Assembly seat. He has since managed to be re-elected in the next two general elections to serve f

The head of the ruling People Power Party said on Thursday South Korea may need a smaller National Assembly. Speaking at a meeting of the party leadership Thursday, Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon said the current 300 seats in the 75-year-old parliament “shouldn’t be considered absolute.” “The country’s Assembly started out with 200 seats and the Constitution states 200 seats or more -- so not necessarily 300 which is kind of seen as a fixture,” he said. He added that he be

The speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, Rep. Kim Jin-pyo, said he is seeking to form a union of South Korean and US legislators within this year. “There isn’t yet an official channel for dialogue between South Korea and the US legislatures. Given the history and the significance of the ROK-US alliance, a union of legislators of two countries is urgently needed,” he said in a statement following a dinner with US congressional delegation on Wednesday, referring to t

Colin Crooks, the British ambassador to South Korea, told the ruling People Power Party leader Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon on Wednesday that South Korea is a country that shares the same values as the UK. “It is a country that supports Ukraine in particular, and also one that is faced with the North Korea challenge. We are countries that stand together in partnerships for peace,” the ambassador said, speaking in Korean. The ambassador said that watching the Ssangyong exercise between the South

A delegation of Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers are heading to Japan for three days on Thursday ahead of the release of the wastewater stored at the earthquake-wrecked nuclear power plant in Fukushima. “There are so many unaddressed questions surrounding the wastewater being dumped in the waters and South Korea can’t leave it up to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) alone,” Rep. Wi Seong-gon, part of the five-member delegation, told a press conference Wednesday.

President Yoon Suk Yeol offered condolences to the victims of the 1947-1954 mass killings of civilians on Jeju Island on Monday. “I remain committed to my promise that I stand with the victims of the April 3 massacre,” Yoon said in a written address read by Prime Minister Han Duk-soo at the ceremony held at the peace park in Jeju City. The president said it is the “duty of our country as a liberal democracy to remember and honor the victims, survivors and their families, and al

Rights activist-turned-lawmaker Rep. Ji Seong-ho of South Korea’s ruling People Power Party met with US Department of State officials on Thursday to discuss possible joint efforts in protecting the rights of North Korean defectors. “I think US officials showed deep interest in South Korea’s actions to improve the rights of North Korean residents and defectors, and the possible steps that the US can take,” Ji, who defected to South Korea in 2006, told The Korea Herald. &ld

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung was met by competing crowds of protesters as he appeared for trial at the Seoul Central District Court on Friday. One protester was seen throwing eggs at the opposition leader. Loud chants of “Arrest him!” from opponents followed Lee, while another crowd of well-wishers blasted songs from a carry-on speaker to muffle the boos. Lee did not respond to questions from reporters at the scene, while waving and smiling b

Seoul prosecutors believe onetime presidential hopeful and Democratic Party of Korea head Rep. Lee Jae-myung planned a solo trip to North Korea while he was still the governor of Gyeonggi Province, which neighbors Seoul. According to the indictment the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office submitted to the National Assembly on Thursday, after then-Gyeonggi Gov. Lee was excluded from the 2018 inter-Korea summit, the provincial office planned for him to travel to North Korea separately.