Opposition Party: "Allegations of US Intelligence Agency Wiretapping Must Be Investigated by Standing Committee"

Park Hong-geun "Priority is to establish measures to prevent recurrence"

Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 11th regarding the suspicion of eavesdropping on the Yongsan Presidential Office by U.S. intelligence agencies, "The National Assembly must immediately convene standing committees related to the 'Presidential Office eavesdropping suspicion,' such as the Steering Committee, Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, Intelligence Committee, and Defense Committee, to uncover the truth and establish countermeasures."

Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 11th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

At the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, Floor Leader Park said, "It is primarily important to firmly establish measures to prevent recurrence so that such incidents never happen again."

He criticized the Presidential Office, saying, "As the force responsible for state affairs, they should first issue an apology to the people, but instead, they were busy threatening with political offensives, saying 'forces shaking the alliance will face public resistance.' The government should properly explain to the public and actively protest to the allied countries to rectify the situation."

He continued, "Former Chancellor Merkel directly called the U.S. President and boldly confronted him, saying, 'No German can accept spying among allied countries.' Eavesdropping on allied countries is an absolutely unacceptable matter," emphasizing, "We must clearly demand measures to ensure that such incidents never recur."

Floor Leader Park questioned, "The Presidential Office claimed that moving to Yongsan made eavesdropping and wiretapping more difficult, that the Yongsan building is safer than the Blue House, and that security issues were perfectly prepared from the time of relocation. Then why was the airspace around the Presidential Office penetrated by North Korean drones, and now there is even suspicion of eavesdropping by the U.S. Department of Defense?"

He added, "Ultimately, wasn't the relocation to Yongsan hastily pushed forward, causing the issues pointed out by lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties to materialize? Despite the Presidential Office being too lax in security, exposing major vulnerabilities to national security and public safety, the Presidential Office and the ruling party only worry about the impact on the Korea-U.S. alliance," he pointed out.

Floor Leader Park said, "It is the proper national duty of the ruling party to take responsibility rather than trying to gloss over the issue. I hope the government will not leave further disgrace in our diplomatic history and will officially request immediate protests and recurrence prevention measures from the U.S."

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