The prosecutors investigating the illegal surveillance scandal summoned Jin Kyung-rak, the former chief of planning for the ethics division in the Prime Minister’s Office.
The summons called for Jin to attend questioning at 10 a.m. on Friday.
The investigators are reportedly be planning to question Jin on whether he hid a laptop computer containing data from surveillance activities involving civilians. The investigators also hope to find out if Jin ordered Jang Jin-su to destroy the hard drive of his computer containing related evidence in July 2010. Jang is a former PMO official convicted of destroying evidence on related matters during the original investigation conducted in 2010. Jin was also convicted of destroying evidence.
The prosecutors, who raided two residences of Jin on March 28, plan to summon his former colleagues if Jin does not respond to the summons.
The prosecutors had summoned Jin as a witness on several occasions, but Jin did not comply, saying that he was making preparations for his appeal. Jin was sentenced to 10 months in prison with 2 years probation.
While the investigators delve deeper into the case, Jang, whose revelations resulted in the case being reinvestigated, claimed that much of the reports concerning his involvement in destroying evidence of a surveillance scheme conducted under the previous administration were false.
In addition, he also claimed that the surveillance reports from the previous administration were destroyed under the orders of the Lee Myung-bak administration.
“Most of the documents found in the cabinets were handed over to the official in charge of archives. The reports that I destroyed data with a hammer are wrong,” Jang said.
“The media is reporting as if the order to destroy evidence was given by the previous administration but that is clearly false.”
After documents surfaced implicating the PMO in a much wider surveillance scheme, Cheong Wa Dae has claimed that the Roh Moo-hyun administration had conducted surveillance and destroyed documents regarding the activities just before the handover of power in 2008.
By Choi He-suk (
cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)
