S. Korea's spy agency confirms existence of 2007 NLL transcripts: lawmaker

South Korea's spy agency confirmed the existence of a transcript that can shed light on allegations that late President Roh Moo-hyun disavowed the de facto sea border between the two Koreas, a ruling party lawmaker said Monday.

Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, a member of the parliament's Intelligence Committee for the Saenuri Party, told Yonhap News Agency that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) has the documents.

This is the first time that the intelligence service has acknowledged it has the transcript in its possession. In the past, it did not confirm or deny it had the files.

"NIS director Won Sei-hoon confirmed the existence of the documents, but declined to make the contents known because it could affect inter-Korean relations," the lawmaker said.

Yoon said that Saenuri demanded a look at the documents although opposition lawmakers were opposed to such a move.

The admission comes after senior presidential security secretary Chun Yung-woo said Thursday during a parliamentary audit session that he saw a transcript two years ago.

The official, who declined to elaborate on its contents, said the document was classified as a "secret" and that he only read it once.

Chun's comments helped fuel the controversy surrounding what Roh may have said to then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il regarding the Northern Limit Line (NLL). The main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) has said even if such documents existed, they should be barred from being disclosed under existing laws governing presidential archives.

The ruling party, on the other hand, has been demanding that an equal number of Saenuri and DUP lawyers check if the NLL documents exist.

"All allegations and suspicions will be laid to rest if the documents are examined," said party spokesman Lee Sang-il earlier in the day.

He also called on DUP presidential hopeful Moon Jae-in to make known what he knows about what took place at the summit that was held in the North Korean capital.

Moon was chief of staff to Roh at the time of the inter-Korean summit and was in charge of arranging the meeting.

Related to the NLL issue that first received attention early this month, Saenuri held a general meeting of lawmakers and central election committee members to stress the seriousness of the situation.

Party presidential candidate Park Geun-hye claimed the issue has nothing to do with political mud-slinging and is all about national security.

"Can the public trust people who avoid giving a clear cut answer on this important issue to govern the country?" she said.

Others said if the South gives up the demarcation line, it will be tantamount to surrendering control of large areas of water that can endanger the safety of South Korean nationals and their economic rights.

Party officials said that independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo needs to make known his position on the NLL issue.

"There is a good chance that he has not seriously considered national security because of his background," a source said.

Such remarks aim to highlight that, compared to Ahn, Park has plenty of experience in such matters and is "ready" to assume the country's top elected post as the first woman president. (Yonhap News)