[EDITORIAL] Truth Needed in Blue House Incident

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[EDITORIAL] Truth Needed in Blue House Incident

A whistle-blower's letter about the Blue House Security Service is causing shock waves. The story is that a policeman in the Security Service shot a colleague in the Blue House, and that higher officers held a investigative meeting and concluded that it was a simple accidental incident. The content of the letter is very sensitive and contains some suspicious details that require further investigation.

We cannot simply swallow the letter as the whole truth, but it is difficult to regard it as an unfounded fabrication, judging from the vivid description of the circumstances and the accurate use of names.

The outline of the letter is this. In May of last year, two policemen got into an argument at the guard post nearest the president's office and one of them shot the other. High-level officers in the Security Service and police held an emergency meeting and issued a false statement that the death was the result of an accident that happened outside the Blue House.

The letter alleges that they lied to the president and paid off the bereaved family with 100 million won ($83,000) to keep quiet. The letter writer claims that the cover-up was possible because those in charge were from a certain region.

The police have quickly rebutted all the allegations. They say that the incident was indeed accidental, the bereaved family fully accepted the results of the postmortem and the family was given only 36 million won, collected from co-workers, as condolence money.

If the whistle-blower's claim is correct, it is a grave matter. It is mind-boggling to think that Security Service agents, responsible for the safety of the president, would brandish pistols and fire shots in a row among themselves. If the incident were indeed covered up and falsely reported, it is even more serious and reflects on the administration's morality.

Furthermore, a leak of internal information to opposition party lawmakers by current Security Service agents is a telltale sign that something is very wrong. The direct motive for sending the letter is reportedly discontent over regional favoritism in government jobs.

The government must divulge the truth. The key is to find out if there really was a meeting to cover up the incident and if the letter tells the whole truth. Finding out these facts will ease criticism of the administration and prevent the spread of groundless rumors.
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