‘Enraged’ president installs spy chief

President Roh Moo-hyun yesterday formally appointed Ko Young-koo, as chief of the National Intelligence Service at the Blue House despite legislative opposition.
“The assembly should not demand that the president not appoint his designate. That is overriding presidential authority. Their job is to verify his or her qualifications, “ Mr. Roh said. An Assembly committee had called the choice “inappropriate,” but it had no power to block the appointment.
The president attacked several members of the Assembly’s Intelligence Committee during his spirited defense of his nominee.
“How can former National Intelligence Service officials during the time when the agency was a regime puppet throw questions about political color at Mr. Ko when times have changed?” he demanded.
There are three former intelligence agency officials on the committee: Representatives Chung Hyung-keun and Hong Joon-pyo of the Grand National Party and Representative Chun Yong-taek of Mr. Roh’s Millennium Democratic Party. Mr. Roh’s aides said Mr. Chung was his main target.
The Blue House also seemed to defend Suh Dong-man of Sangji University, who is believed to be a leading candidate for a senior post at the intelligence service. The legislative committee had also tried to pre-empt that appointment in its report on Mr. Ko’s qualifications for the post. Moon Jae-in, the presidential adviser for civil affairs, said of Mr. Suh, “He has not been eliminated from the pool of candidates” for the service’s office policy planning and coordination.
The opposition Grand National Party, which had threatened legislative retaliation against Mr. Ko’s appointment, held an emergency meeting yesterday to plan its next moves. Blue House sources said Mr. Roh was enraged over the committee’s report. The president attacked opposition threats to delay or block the passage of a supplementary budget.

by Choi Hoon