hankyoreh

the memoir by former President Lee Myung-bak.

Lee Myung-bak’s memoir is under investigation by prosecutors for possible violations of the Presidential Records Act and leaking of official secrets.

At issue is the inclusion of confidential details related to inter-Korean relations and summit diplomacy from Lee’s term (2008-13) in the recently published book titled “The President’s Time,” which are suspected to come from designated presidential archive materials. The upcoming investigation to determine whether confidential material was read and leaked will now have to include questioning of Lee and the advisers participating in the drafting of the memorials, along with the Presidential Archives, which keep the records.

A group named Action Headquarters for Trying Lee Myung-bak was among the plaintiffs filing a complaint on Feb. 9 charging Lee with leaking of official secrets and violating the Presidential Records Act, Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office said on Feb. 10, adding that the case had been assigned to the sixth criminal division under chief prosecutor Kim Yu-cheol.

The groups also filed an injunction with Seoul Nambu District Court demanding a halt to sales and distribution of “The President’s Time.” It is historically unusual for a head of state’s memoir in any country to be investigated for the leaking of confidential information.

Former Blue House senior public relations secretary Kim Du-woo, one of the leading figures in the book’s drafting, previously gave an explanation of the writing process.

“The memoirs were based on memos and recollections from President Lee and his advisers,” Kim said. “Representatives of President Lee also visited the Presidential Archives several times to read presidential records.”

The remarks raised suspicions that Lee had either acquired presidential records designated for confidential management after his term ended, or read confidential materials from the collection and then made them public without approval. The suspicions were fanned when archive chief Lee Jae-joon, a Blue House administrative officer during the Lee Myung-bak administration, refused to make public the materials that Lee’s representatives had read, without giving any explanation for his decision.

The archives are now refusing to answer a request for the list from lawmakers with the National Assembly Security & Public Administration Committee, arguing that the matter “needs to be reported to a Cabinet minister.” On Feb. 10, it rejected an information disclosure request from the Hankyoreh for a list of people accessing the records on the grounds that it “contains personal information.”

By Park Tae-woo, Kim Kyu-nam and Seo Young-ji, staff reporters

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