hankyoreh

By Lee Tae-hee, Staff Writer

The National Intelligence Service, the agency in charge of North Korean intelligence for South Korea, only learned about the death of Kim Jong-il from an announcement Monday by North Korea's Korean Central Television.

At a closed meeting of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, Unified Democratic Party secretary Choi Jae-sung said he asked NIS chief Won Sei-hoon what the agency had learned in the two hours after North Korea announced their "special broadcast" at 10 am Monday, but that Won had been unable to reply.

Citing a lack of intelligence gathering capabilities and policy misjudgments, the UDP and other opposition parties plan to call for cuts to the NIS budget and disciplinary action against the foreign affairs and national security line, including Won's replacement as NIS chief.

UDP floor leader Kim Jin-pyo said, "There have been a lot of problems, with the NIS's intelligence capabilities weakening badly and the intelligence-gathering line becoming very narrowly focused."

Kim said the party would be raising calls for a reprimand of Won at a parliamentary Q&A session during the National Assembly plenary session set to begin Thursday.

Liberty Forward Party lawmaker Park Sun-young said during an interview Tuesday with the Christian Broadcasting System that "NIS chief Won Sei-hoon, at least, should step down."

The NIS budget for 2011 stands at 496.3 billion won in special activities expenses. With an additional 300 billion or so in reserve funds and other unreported budget monies, it is known to spend around one trillion won a year.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]