hankyoreh

By Ko Na-mu
　　
Lawmaker Choi Jae-sung, the Democratic Party’s secretary on the National Assembly Intelligence Committee, directed criticisms Monday at what he called “watering down” practices at the National Intelligence Service, include the leaking of inaccurate intelligence about North Korea to cover up cases detrimental to its own interests.
In a National Assembly briefing Monday, Choi said, “Whenever there are questions from opposition party lawmakers directed at the NIS in the National Assembly Intelligence Committee, [the NIS] routinely leaks unconfirmed North Korea intelligence as a way of ‘watering down bad press.’”
As an example of this, Choi cited speculation that Beijing issued a formal invitation for a visit by Kim Jong-un, which he said was produced at the Intelligence Committee on March 4.
“At the time, the NIS had not confirmed in the Intelligence Committee that China had formally invited Kim Jong-un, yet articles went out in the press as coming from the intelligence committee,” Choi said.
“It is impossible to shake off suspicions that the NIS, which is facing embarrassment over the recent break-in into the Indonesian delegation’s hotel room, leaked this in order to dilute the negative press,” Choi contended.
Choi also said that in the wake of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack in 2009, the NIS reported in the Intelligence Committee that it was tracking 16 countries suspected of involvement, without specifying that North Korea was responsible, but that media reports showed the NIS claiming that the attack was carried out by a cyber-unit affiliated with North Korea’s Reconnaissance Bureau.
“Even then, it was reported that the statement was made by a ruling party lawmaker on the intelligence committee,” Choi said.
“If the NIS continues engaging in such dirty practices with its exclusive North Korea intelligence, the opposition parties will be obliged to take strong measures,” Choi warned.
In a telephone conversation Monday with the Hankyoreh, an NIS official said, “In the case of the ’formal invitation to Kim Jong-un’ article, the NIS told several press outlets in no uncertain terms that it was not true on the evening of March 4.”
“The ‘watering down’ claims are based on a misunderstanding,” the official added.
　　
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