Around 30 former government officials will be called in next week for questioning over a missing record of a 2007 inter-Korean summit as part of efforts to determine its whereabouts, the prosecution said Tuesday.

Prosecutors have been analyzing presidential records and other public documents seized at the National Archives of Korea in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, to determine whether the transcripts of the summit actually disappeared, and if so, who should be held responsible for the record's conspicuous absence.

The summit transcript is considered a key piece of evidence in settling a political dispute over whether late South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun from the opposition bloc made controversial remarks during his summit with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2007.

Roh allegedly made conciliatory remarks to the effect of offering to surrender the inter-Korean Yellow Sea border off the west coast, which Pyongyang has long denounced and sought to nullify. Some see Roh's comments, if true, as undermining the country's sovereignty.

"We will be able to finish looking into the presidential records around Oct. 10," the Seoul Central District Prosecutors'

Office, which is in charge of the case, told reporters.

"Questioning of those involved in the case will get underway in full scale next week."

The prosecution office said it is now trying to arrange schedules for the questioning, adding that first about 30 people will be called in.

They will include Roh's former presidential officials who took part in producing, keeping and allegedly transferring the summit transcripts to the National Archives, according to prosecutors.

The probe comes after a bipartisan parliamentary body failed to locate the transcript at the National Archives and later concluded

that it was missing from the files for reasons yet unknown.

The ruling Saenuri Party then filed complaints with the prosecution office, asking that the investigative authorities find those responsible for the record's mysterious disappearance.

The ruling party alleged that the former Roh administration destroyed the file to erase evidence of Roh's controversial remarks, while the main opposition Democratic Party accused the government of Roh's successor, former President Lee Myung-bak, of tampering with it.

Prosecutors said they plan to announce the result of their ongoing analyses of presidential records regardless of the schedule of the regular parliamentary audit into government offices.

The audit is expected to be held from Oct. 14 to Nov. 2, according to the political circle. (Yonhap News)