Minister put on the hot seat

Minister of Information and Communication Chin Dae-je had to endure a torrent of questions and accusations at the National Assembly yesterday, one day after he admitted that wiretapping cell phones was possible. The opposition Grand National Party is considering bringing perjury charges against Mr. Chin and former information ministers who told the National Assembly in the past that wiretapping cell phones was impossible. “Mr. Chin called intercepting mobile phone conversations practically impossible unless the phone’s identification number was copied in the National Assembly’s 2003 audit. Isn’t this an obvious lie?” said Kim Hee-jung, a lawmaker with the Grand National Party. “In 1999, then-Information Minister Namgoong Suek also said that it was impossible to tap cell phones in Korea,” said Suh Sang-kee, another GNP lawmaker. “In 2000, then-Information Minister Ahn Byong-yub also said that it was impossible. All of this is perjury.” Mr. Suh also said the Information Ministry actually has asked the National Security Research Institute to develop scramblers to prevent cell phone eavesdropping since 1996 at a cost of 1.2 billion won ($1.2 million). Mr. Chin defended himself by saying that his announcement on Tuesday did not contradict what he said before. “The point of it was to tell Koreans that there is no need to be worried about their cell phones being tapped because it is impossible for private detective agencies to do so,” not that the wiretapping is possible, Mr. Chin said. “I have not perjured myself and I have not lied.” by Kim Jung-ha, Park Sung-ha