NPAD demands probe of NIS

The main opposition party Thursday called for a full-fledged special parliamentary investigation into the burgeoning allegations that the nation’s top spy agency used hacking software to engage in illegal civilian surveillance, as the current discussion at relevant committees, according to them, failed to shed light.

Rep. Lee Jong-kul, floor leader for the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, urged the government to take “extraordinary measures,” claiming that new evidence was found to link the National Intelligence Service to civilian surveillance charges.

“We have to come up with a whole new step if the NIS is unwilling to cooperate with lawmakers’ investigation,” said Lee. “We should push for a parliamentary investigation and a special prosecutors’ probe if the parliamentary committee ends up failing to find out exactly what happened,” said Lee.

His remarks came after Lee’s revelation that supports his claim about NIS wiretapping charges. Lee said in a media interview that local IP addresses were found in a hacked email from Hacking Team, the Italy-based malware surveillance vendor that supplied the NIS with the hacking program, called Remote Control System.

Lee also alleged that Hacking Team had contacted North Korea to sell the hacking program, suggesting that security-related intelligence from North Korea and South Korea could have been mixed. He made the comment at the meeting with Citizen Lab, a nonprofit Institute which first report the NIS had purchased the program.

Bill Marczak, researcher from the Canada-based institute, on Thursday told NPAD lawmakers that the NIS had asked the Hacking Team to add software that can monitor KakaoTalk, Korea’s largest mobile messenger. He added that the NIS had shown interest in the process of tapping phone calls.

Lee went on to criticize the NIS for refusing to submit RCS’s log files, which record every event in the hacking software. The NIS denied access to the files, citing they contain sensitive information that could compromise the nation’s cybersecurity.

But the ruling Saenuri Party labeled the NPAD allegation as an attempt at “self-hypnosis” to disrupt the due process of the NIS investigation, urging the NPAD to stop throwing around unverified allegations that “sabotage” national cybersecurity amid the persistent cyber threat from North Korea.

“(The NPAD) should stop raising ungrounded allegation to sabotage our national security system,” said Saenuri Party floor leader Rep. Won Yoo-chul. “I am afraid that Korea is going down the wrong path, while other countries are seeking to beef up intelligence capability,” said Won.

Won added, “(The NPAD) needs to get the facts right and face the truth, whether it involves on-site inspection or meetings with officials. NPAD should stop hypnotizing itself.”

Lawmakers agreed Wednesday to visit the NIS and hold meetings with its officials to address the hacking scandal. The meetings will take place Aug. 6.

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)