Quit or Be Impeached, 2 Top Officials Warned

The main opposition Grand National Party demanded Tuesday that the director-general of the National Intelligence Service and the prosecutor-general resign or be fired.

If by the end of the month the two officials are not held accountable for their agencies' suspected involvement in three major financial scandals, Representative Lee Jae-oh, the floor leader, said his party would raise an impeachment motion during the National Assembly's final plenary session scheduled Dec. 6 to Dec. 8.

Mr. Lee said his party intends to pass a bill that would make hearings on nominees for the posts of the intelligence chief and the prosecutor-general mandatory before the end of this year.

In response, Lee Nak-yon, spokesman for the governing Millennium Democratic Party, said Shin Kuhn, the intelligence chief, and Shin Seung-nam, the prosecutor general, were named in March and May of this year and so cannot be held accountable for scandals that broke out last year.

He added that the director-general of the National Intelligence Service could not by law be impeached under any circumstances.

The Grand National party's decision to set a deadline for the resignations of the two officials was attributed to an order from its leader, Lee Hoi-chang. "Don't give the impression that we are too much on the offensive," he told Lee Jae-oh, the floor leader. "Give time for the two officials to make up their minds and for the president to make a decision."

An aide to the opposition leader explained that Mr. Lee decided to push for a "natural" ouster of the two officials rather than raising an impeachment motion right away to avoid possible public criticism that his party had become too arrogant after a resounding victory in by-elections last month.

Party officials say that who will succeed the two officials is more important than whether they are dismissed. They believe it would be difficult for President Kim Dae-jung to fill the posts with people from the Jeolla provinces once again. Both Shins hail from there, the president's home region.

If the two powerful posts are taken up by non-Jeolla persons, the opposition party would be able to campaign during next year's general and presidential elections without fear that the agencies would meddle in the campaigning process, the GNP officials said.

"Ensuring the agencies' political neutrality and preventing the ruling camp from trying to arbitrarily realign political forces are two of our goals as we try to unseat the two officials," a GNP official said.

by Lee Soo-ho