Opposition: "MB National Intelligence Service Surveillance Controversy Is 'Election Manipulation'... It Will Backfire in Busan"

Jeong Jin-seok "Park Hyung-jun is trying to influence Busan election by getting ahead"
Kim Ki-hyun "Interference in second Ulsan election... Illegal acts disguised as legal"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The People Power Party is strongly opposing the controversy over the National Intelligence Service's illegal surveillance of politicians and civilians during the Lee Myung-bak administration, claiming that it is an election manipulation attempt ahead of the April 7 local elections.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 24th, Jeong Jin-seok, a member of the People Power Party, told Asia Economy in a phone interview that "since Park Hyung-joon, the People Power Party's preliminary candidate for Busan mayor, is showing an overwhelming lead, this is an attempt to influence the Busan election."

Jeong said, "Wouldn't such intelligence-gathering documents have been produced during the administrations of former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun as well?" He criticized, "Why is only the conservative and right-wing governments related to the People Power Party being singled out without exception? All administrations should be thoroughly investigated." He added, "Park Hyung-joon served as the Senior Secretary for Political Affairs as his successor. What kind of surveillance is this, and what does it have to do with the Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs?"

Jeong argued, "The citizens of Busan are not simple," and said, "This could backfire and cause the Democratic Party candidates to suffer a backlash." He stated, "Such attempts at public opinion manipulation will backfire and cause a backlash. We need to show that the citizens of Busan are not easily swayed by such election manipulations."

Kim Ki-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, defined this incident as a second Ul-san mayoral election manipulation. In a phone interview with Asia Economy, Kim condemned it as "a reckless act involving the Blue House, the National Intelligence Service, the National Assembly, and even standing committee chairs, all mobilized to blatantly plot election manipulation again." He said, "These series of acts are illegal acts disguised as legal ones," and added, "If this continues without correction, legal action must be considered."

Regarding future responses, Kim said, "We must strongly condemn this and appeal to the public."

Earlier, Kim Kyung-hyup, a member of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee from the Democratic Party, stated at a press briefing and media interview the day before, "After further searching the publicly requested data, Director Park Ji-won of the National Intelligence Service confirmed that personal information collection documents were produced not only during the Lee Myung-bak administration but also during the Park Geun-hye administration." He added, "The number of abnormal personal information collection documents appears to be about 200,000. Even if we estimate an average of 10 documents per person, it actually involves more than 20,000 people." The Democratic Party has requested the National Intelligence Service to submit materials related to illegal surveillance since the Lee Myung-bak administration through the Intelligence Committee.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.