이정현 "채동욱 사표수리 안했다...진실 규명이 우선"

Published : Sept 15, 2013 - 15:33 Updated : Sept 15, 2013 - 18:20

대검 떠나는 채동욱 총장(연합뉴스)

이정현 청와대 홍보수석은 15일 '혼외아들 의혹 '이 제기된 지 1주일 만에 채동욱 검찰총장이 전격 사의를 표명한 것과 관련, "사표 수리를 하지 않았다. 진실규명이 우선"이라고 밝혔다.

이 수석은 이날 기자들과 만나 이같이 말했다. 청와대의 한 관계자는 이와 관련 "박근혜 대통령도 진실규명에 공감하지 않겠느냐"고 말했다.

그러면서 "진실이 규명되면 깨끗이 해결되는 문제"라며 "이번 사안을 의도적 프레임으로 몰아가서 청와대에 책임을 묻고 이런저런 의혹을 제기하는 등 본질하고 다른 방향으로 가서 국론을 분열시키고 공직 사회를 흔드는 것은 바람직한 방향이 아니다"라고 주장했다.

청와대의 이 같은 입장은 채 총장의 사의표명을 놓고 정치권 일각에서 국정원 대선개입 의혹 사건 처리를 놓고 채 총장이 청와대와 갈등을 빚자 언론의 '혼외 아들' 보도를 매개로 검찰 흔들기를 시도했다는 주장이 제기된 것과 무관치 않아 보인다.

특히 채 총장의 사퇴에 청와대가 '입김'을 행사한 것으로 계속 비쳐질 경우, 국정수행에 차질이 빚어질 수 있다고 보고 이런 의혹확산을 서둘러 차단하고 나섰다는 관측이 제기되고 있다.

청와대 관계자는 채 총장의 사퇴 논란에 대해 "이 문제는 공직자 윤리의 문제지 검찰의 독립성 문제가 아니다"라며 "이 문제는 검찰의 독립성 문제가 아니라 오히려 검찰의 신뢰와 명예 문제"라고 덧붙였다.

이 관계자는 이어 황교안 법무장관이 채 총장에 대해 감찰지시를 한 것에 대해서는 "감찰은 문제가 있을 때 하는 것이고, 이번 건은 법무부 시스템상 감찰관을 통해 진상규명을 지시한 것"이라며 "채 총장은 진실이 아닌데 왜 물러나나. 진실규명에 적극적으로 나서야 한다"고 주장했다.

이 관계자는 이와 함께 민주당에 대해서도 "이런 의혹이 제기되면 야당은 그 동안 항상 진상규명을 요구했지만 이번에는 국민적 관심이 집중되는 사안에 민주당이 한 번도 진상규명이라는 단어를 사용한 적이 없다"면서 "민주당이 이번 사안을 왜 정치적으로 악용하는지 이해가 안된다"고 주장했다.

<관련 영문 기사>

Park yet to accept resignation of prosecutor general

President Park Geun-hye has not yet accepted the resignation of Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook, a senior official said Sunday, stressing that truth about his alleged illegitimate child should be revealed first.

Chae offered to quit on Friday, a week after allegations surfaced that he fathered a son through an extramarital affair in 2002. He denied the allegations, but said they still made it difficult for him to carry out his duties as chief prosecutor.

"The resignation has not been accepted," senior presidential press secretary Lee Jung-hyun told reporters. "Revealing the true should come first."

The resignation offer came shortly after Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn ordered an internal inspection into the allegations, citing a need to end the controversy over ethical standards of the prosecution chief. It was the first time that such an inspection order has been made.

Some saw Chae's departure as an effort to evade the inspection for fears that the allegations would prove true, while the main opposition Democratic Party and other critics denounced the rare order as an attempt to force Chae out of office and tame the prosecution.

Critics have also raised speculation that Chae might have run afoul of the government with an investigation into suspicions that the state-run National Intelligence Service attempted to influence last December's presidential election in favor of the ruling party.

They also claimed that Chae's departure is part of an attempt to blunt the probe.

Lee rejected the speculation.

"This is an issue about ethics of a public official, not about the prosecution's independence," Lee said. "An inspection takes place when there is a problem ... Why does Prosecutor General Choe have to step down when (the allegations against him) are not true?"

President Park must think the same way about the need for revealing the truth, he added.

The calls for revealing the true suggest that the justice ministry could still go ahead with the planned inspection into the allegations against Chae because his resignation has not been accepted.

Chae's resignation offer had once clouded the prospect of the planned talks between Park and DP leader Kim Han-gil scheduled for Monday, with some opposition members claiming that the party should boycott the three-way meeting that will also involve the chief of the ruling Saenuri Party.

But Kim said Sunday that he will attend the meeting and raise Chae's departure as a key topic.

"I think that the main topics for tomorrow's talks should be the harmful effects of political intervention by government agencies such as the NIS," Kim said, claiming that Chae's offer to resign is part of such harmful effects.

"The president should prepare (to give) a clear answer," he said.

In an apparent move to draw more public attention, the main opposition party proposed on Sunday that the three-way meeting be televised.
Cheong Wa Dae quickly rejected the proposal.

"I believe it will be enough that each side open the outcome of the meeting to the public without any restrictions or prior coordination," an official said, while speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Monday's three-way meeting has been set up as a compromise for the opposition party's long-standing demand for one-on-one talks with Park about the election-meddling scandal involving the spy agency.

The opposition party has been staging a street protest campaign since early August, demanding Park apologize over the scandal. She, however, has rejected the demand, saying she neither had any knowledge of the agency's alleged wrongdoing nor did she benefit from it. (Yonhap news)