2013-07-02 17:07
Parties vote to view summit records
Presidential archives to be unsealed over NLL dispute By Jun Ji-hye The ruling and opposition parties agreed Tuesday to disclose the original minutes of the 2007 inter-Korean summit for exclusive viewing. The minutes are kept in the National Archives of Korea (NAK) as presidential records. A motion to allow access to the presidential records was passed 257 to 17, with two abstentions. A total of 276 lawmakers attended the National Assembly plenary session. Under present law, presidential records are classified for 15 years. Before the expiration of the period, they can only be accessed with the approval of more than two thirds of lawmakers of the National Assembly or a high court warrant. The overwhelming “yes” vote came as both parties decided to encourage lawmakers to attend the session and vote for the disclosure of the transcripts of leaders of the two Koreas during their summit. Both parties obviously thought the records would strengthen their respective arguments over whether late President Roh Moo-hyun had indeed negated Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto border in the West Sea. The vote came hours after Reps. Yoon Sang-hyun of the ruling Saenuri Party and Jung Sung-ho of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) ironed out the differences during the two parties’ vice floor leaders’ meeting. In a written request submitted to the National Assembly, the two parties said, “We request an access permit to all material related to the 2007 inter-Korean summit between Roh and late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il” in order to confirm whether Roh showed his intention to relinquish the West Sea borderline. Their request included access to minutes of the summit, recorded tapes, reports of pre-summit and post-summit arrangements and all other pertinent electronic documents. The parties also asked the national archives to produce duplicates of the material and submit them to lawmakers. The head of the archives should comply with it within 10 days after the Speaker makes such a request. “After the National Intelligence Service (NIS) disclosed the summit transcripts late June, some content of the closed-door meeting of the two late leaders has been leaked to the media and the public,” the two parties said in a statement. “This has magnified the controversy surrounding Roh’s comments on the NLL and allegations that the NIS manipulated the transcripts.” The NIS-released copy of the summit minutes quoted Roh as saying, “I agreed with you (Kim). The NLL should be overhauled.” The two parties made their own interpretations of Roh’s remarks. The Saenuri claimed Roh disavowed the NLL, while the DP argued he just tried to secure peace on the Korean Peninsula and there is no direct expression of renunciation in the full text. The DP earlier argued that the transcripts released by the NIS were a duplicate of the originals, not denying the possibility that they were doctored by the spy agency. However, even after the national archive discloses the original material, parties will likely remain poles apart over whether they should make it public and, if they do, how to do so. Those who gain access to confidential material are required by law to read it in a place designated by the head of the archive and only accredited officials are allowed to deliver the duplicates. In addition, anyone who reveals the content of any classified document faces up to three years in prison or suspension of qualification for seven years. The ruling party is suggesting to lawmakers to only read the material without disclosing it to the public. Saenuri lawmakers, however, say recorded tapes kept in the NIS could be made public because they assume both tapes kept in the archive and NIS contain identical content. The DP insists the entire original summit records should be made public at all cost to establish the truth of Roh’s comments. Some say lawmakers could use their privilege of exemption from liability on the floor of the Assembly. 1 |