NIS illegal wiretapping scandal

The National Intelligence Service of the Republic of Korea’s illegal eavesdropping case occurred during the Kim Dae-Jung administration when the National Intelligence Service was wiretapping civilians and the opposite political party’s politicians. It was revealed by the Grand National Party lawmaker Chung Hyung-Geun in October 2002, and was considered an election disclosure ahead of the presidential election; however, three years of the investigation confirmed that the allegation of NIS wiretapping was true.[1] In December 2000, during the so-called 'Kwon No-gap's resignation scandal', the phone conversations of young Democratic Party lawmakers and those involved in Jin Seung-Hyun's gate were wiretapped.[1] At the time of Choi Kyu-sun's gate in 2000, it was confirmed that Choi Kyu-sun's business operations, money and women relations, and the details of personnel appointments of high-ranking officials such as the NIS director were also wiretapped.[1]

It has been also confirmed that a phone call by ULD lawmaker Lee regarding Hwang Jang-Yup's visit to the U.S. in 2001 and the dismissal of Unification Minister Lim Dong-won in the same year were also wiretapped.[1] In April 2001, a telephone conversation between Kim Yoon-hwan of the Democratic People's Party and Kim Yoon-Hwan of the Democratic Party was also wiretapped.[1] The contents of the NIS's call to the Provincial Police Agency between 1998 and 2002 were compiled into several A4 paper reports. The reports were reported to the directors through the deputy director of the National Intelligence Service.

In April 2005, prosecutors concluded that documents released by Rep. Chung Hyung-Geun of the Grand National Party in 2002 as wiretapping details of the NIS cannot be regarded as documents made by the NIS due to different forms and texts.[2] However, after the prosecution's reinvestigation into the Mirim team and Samsung's X-file scandal that year, the National Intelligence Service's wiretapping was confirmed to be true. Soon after, the board members of the National Intelligence Service and Kim-Eun Seong, the Second Conductor were arrested. Because there were concealment instructions and additional suspicion, the director and other related people were punished.

  1. ^ a b c d e "[규제 개혁] 아마존 '1초 결제'… 公認인증서(30만원 이상 결제시) 필수인 국내 쇼핑몰은 10분". biz.chosun.com (in Korean). 22 March 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  2. ^ "검찰, 국정원 도청의혹 무혐의 처분". 매일경제 (in Korean). 1 April 2005. Retrieved 18 April 2021.