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Headquarters of the National Intelligence Service.
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’Retractions of ideology’ placed on Internet site
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) is being accused of violating privacy and civil rights by publicly posting written "retractions of ideology" (banseongmun) on the Internet. The retractions are from a number of past cases in which alleged enemies of the state have been forced to renounce their political ideologies. On Tuesday, the NIS updated its web site, posting information about five "major spying cases." Under one case explanation, it includes a scanned version of handwritten retractions of ideology by Kim Yeong-hwan, chief editor of the periodical Sidae Jeongsin, and Jo Yu-sik, president of the online bookstore Aladdin. Kim and Jo were both arrested in 1999. Kim and Jo were charged with establishing an underground pro-Pyongyang political party, the "National Democratic Revolutionary Party" (Minjok Minju Hyeongmyeong Dang), among other pro-North activities. The men eventually renounced their political ideology. The case was closed when the prosecution issued a "suspension of arraignment" for both men on the condition that they not commit any crimes for a two-year period.The two men say the NIS never asked their permission to publish their statements on the internet, and did not even know that it had done so until discussion about the postings became public. "A retraction of ideology is part of the record to an investigation, and it is clearly defamation and an violation of a person’s rights to disclose it without permission," said lawyer Song Ho-chang. "Disclosing what contains private information does not serve the public good, and there is no legitimate reason for it." The NIS has also made public, in considerable detail, its case against Jeong Su-il, who was charged with being a spy for North Korea. Jeong was given amnesty and granted "restoration of full rights" in 2003; he is currently a prominent researcher on the history of civilization. Lawyer Yi Deok-u said that it was as if Dr. Jeong were being punished a second time by "an agency that no longer has authority over what is now a closed case." "Dr. Jeong has been given amnesty and had all his rights as a citizen restored, and today is recognized for his work as a scholar," said Yi. An NIS official said the written statements were widely covered by the media when each case broke, and that it put on its homepage only portions that had already been reported upon. The intelligence agency maintains that it is "pretty sure the scanned retractions were on our homepage since 1999," but removed them anyway when controversy about them spread since July 8.
