Eavesdropping scandal involving nation's spy agency haunts Koreans
The eavesdropping scandal involving the nation’s spy agency is raising concerns about the violation of human rights and privacy, with legal experts calling for stricter guidelines to control surveillance activities.
"The recent incident revealed that the National Intelligence Service has gathered a large amount of information on individuals without going through proper legal procedures,’’ said lawyer Jang Kyung-uk, a member of the activist group Lawyers for a Democratic Society.
The recent anxiety over wiretapping was triggered last week when local television station MBC reported that intelligence officials wiretapped conversations in 1997 between Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Hong Seok-hyun, then president of local daily the JoongAng Ilbo, and Samsung Group vice chairman Lee Hak-soo, then heading the company’s chief executive’s office.
According to the report, Hong and Lee allegedly discussed plans to provide illegal campaign funds for two rival presidential candidates ahead of the 1997 election.
Amb. Hong yesterday announced his resignation. The Samsung Group, the nation’s largest conglomerate, Monday officially released a public apology for its link to the scandal.
