Presidential Office Says "Dogamcheong Documents Are Forged"... But Ruling Party Also Calls for "Independent Investigation"

Regarding the documents containing allegations of wiretapping and eavesdropping by U.S. intelligence authorities, the Blue House stated that "a significant portion of the documents are forged." Amid opposition parties raising their voices in criticism, calling it a "global pushover," voices within the ruling party are also criticizing the Blue House's response and calling for "an independent investigation."

On the 11th, Ahn Cheol-soo, a member of the People Power Party, criticized the Blue House's response through his social media (SNS), saying, "Our government should not only listen to the U.S. government's explanation but must independently and clearly investigate whether there was actually any U.S. wiretapping and what level of information security is being maintained at the Yongsan Presidential Office." He added, "It is important to clearly recognize that vague explanations such as the disclosed information being forged or the Blue House's information security being certain have limitations in dispelling public concerns."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This is the first time in about a month that Representative Ahn has posted criticism related to the Blue House. Although he shared an article raising suspicions of the Blue House's interference in the party convention on his SNS on the 7th of last month, after the convention ended, he only shared content related to his constituency and legislative activities. Representative Ahn said, "To further strengthen the Korea-U.S. alliance, the suspicions must be clearly resolved," and added, "For the fundamental mutual trust of the Korea-U.S. alliance, our government needs to thoroughly investigate, firmly raise issues if problems are found, and obtain promises to prevent recurrence."

On the same morning, Kim Tae-hyo, the first deputy director of the National Security Office, met with reporters at Incheon Airport just before departing for the U.S. to coordinate a state visit schedule and stated, "The Korea-U.S. assessment agrees that a significant portion of the disclosed information is forged." The Blue House also declared, "We clearly state that the wiretapping and eavesdropping allegations are absurd false accusations."

However, criticism from opposition parties continued. They argued that the Blue House excessively accepted the U.S. position rather than verifying the wiretapping allegations. Kim Yong-min, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, raised his voice, saying, "This is a tactic to cleverly distort the facts," and added, "Even if the U.S. insists it did not happen, the victim country should not easily agree." He said, "We must respond firmly even if it means canceling a summit," and "At least in this controversy, I want to see a president who prioritizes national interests."

Lee Kyung, the standing deputy spokesperson of the same party, also pointed out on SNS, "This is why we are criticized as a 'global pushover,'" and said, "It is the role of national leaders to question how the U.S. obtained the documents." He noted, "When this happened to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, she immediately called President Barack Obama to protest and received an apology. She summoned the U.S. ambassador to Germany to protest and revealed that the U.S. had been wiretapping the embassies of 38 allied countries in the U.S. The German prosecutors investigated U.S. intelligence agents." He emphasized, "If national sovereignty is a priority, this is a natural action."

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