It is most notable that an attempt to sell transcripts of illegal eavesdropping tapes produced by the Agency for National Security Planning (ANSP) occurred not only with Samsung but also with the JoongAng Ilbo as a prospective customer. Furthermore the news is making even greater waves because of the fact that among the approximately 50 transcripts an individual sought to sell to a JoongAng executive was documentation about Chosun Ilbo president Bang Sang Hoon.
It is well known that the ANSP eavesdropping team targeted the owners of newspaper companies other than just the JoongAng's Hong Seok Hyun. That being the case it is possible that the transcription salesman also went to companies other than Samsung and the JoongAng trying to sell documentation on the conversations of owners and presidents of news media and jaebeols.
The JoongAng needs to frankly tell all about the process through which it received the offer to buy the transcripts. If it saw what was on the tapes it needs to explain why it never reported that story. It is clearly a dereliction of duty on the part of a newspaper if it came across evidence of illegal eavesdropping by a state intelligence agency and did not convey that information to the people. At the very least it should have informed a criminal investigation organization. One is just shocked to learn that instead the JoongAng asked Samsung for money so that it could make a deal with a criminal.
The prosecution, for its part, needs to make it clear whether it is going to investigate these new allegations or not. It can't take the halfhearted attitude that the attempts at deals are "not part of the main investigation" and that it will "check up on the issue now that it's appeared in the press. Let us clearly state that the attempt to bargain a deal on the eavesdropping tapes was clearly criminal activity, and as such there should be thorough clarification of the truth as well as criminal punishment. It must not assume a passive attitude for fear that expanding the investigation could lead to revelations about shameful facts regarding other news company presidents. We hope to see the prosecution walk a righteous path.
The Hankyoreh, 7 September 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Investigate Attempts to Sell 'X File' Transcripts |
