NIS worked to revoke DJ’s Nobel Peace Prize

The National Intelligence Service provided a conservative civic group with the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s address during the Lee Myung-bak administration as they worked together to have the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to former President Kim Dae-jung revoked, investigators said Saturday.

Prosecutors have found that after Kim’s death in 2009, the NIS and the rightist group discussed a plan to petition the Norwegian Nobel Committee to strip Kim of the prize in a bid to prevent nationwide mourning for the former liberal leader worsening public sentiment against then conservative President Lee.

On Saturday, investigators said that an official in the civic group sent an email to an NIS official in March 2010, saying he didn’t have the Nobel Committee’s address to send a letter to.

The NIS official provided the address to the civic group official, investigators said.

The civic group official, whose identity was withheld, recently told prosecutors that he sent the petition to the Nobel Committee at the request of the NIS.

Kim received the award for promoting peace by holding the first-ever inter-Korean summit in June 2000.

The right-wing civic group was one of the harshest critics of Kim and other liberal politicians.

Right after Kim’s death, the group issued a statement condemning him for politically exploiting regional sentiments and undermining national identity by adopting the June 2000 inter-Korean summit agreement.

Yonhap