The coverage began with a single report,'Hand Letter'. Aside from various means of communication such as phone calls, e-mails, text messages, SNS, and video messengers, the informant chose a cumbersome and laborious'hand letter'. It was because he wished his identity would not be revealed in any way.
The writing was crooked. However, the content was clear. And it was decisively shocking.
The second-level director of the National Intelligence Service had molested a female employee in the same department twice. And even more shockingly, another Level 5 employee also harassed the victim again. The informant said,'Even though rumors about this are circulating within the NIS, some high-ranking officials have stepped up to crack down.
Out of the blue, one easy question here. What is the life of ramen? It would be noodles and broth too. The answer may be that the amount is a pot or cold rice to be rolled in soup, but it is not a large number of choices. Second question, what is the life of the courier service? Perhaps it's speed. You could talk about the kindness of the driver, but it's secondary in front of speed.
So what is the life of an intelligence agency? That's security.
The first, second, and third are'security','security' and also'security'. Who, what, where, how, why, all of this shouldn't be easily revealed. If you interpret this from a reporter's point of view, it will be difficult to report. But, much more important than that
It also means that what happened inside does not seldom come out.
Especially if it were a sexual offense that took place inside.
'Sunday/department manager's office' and'suburbs of Seoul, inside the boss's car'
The first incident occurred in late June of last year.
Director A, who used to be the head of a department at the NIS, summoned a female employee from the same department to his office and harassed him. It was also Sunday, unfortunately (?) that day.
Holidays with relatively few workers, so there are few eyes to see. And a closed place called the department head's office. The crime took place at that point, at that point.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the end. It was the beginning.
Director A is also accused of taking the victim female employee to a suburb of Seoul and harassing him again in the car ten days later.
A quiet suburb of Seoul with a river view, and inside the head of the department's car. 'Power', which means tangible and intangible power that can overwhelm a person's will, was used in such a place.
Nevertheless, Director A was successful. In the next month's greetings, he was promoted from level 3 to level 2. In addition, we even worked as a core department in charge of North Korea strategy. The promotion of high-ranking officials who committed sex crimes and the succession of them to key departments, these were the personnel executed by the nation's top intelligence agencies.
If the organization in charge of human resources knows what is wrong, it is concealed, otherwise it is incompetent. Before discussing legal punishment and disciplinary action, we cannot but ask whether it is a person who fits the common sense of a normal person.
Such a'uncommon sense' Director A's greeting, of course, has no choice but to come out.
Inside the NIS, there was a saying that "Director A is very close to a certain high-ranking official of the current government" and "I was promoted by bringing a specific person very close to me."
In fact, it was reported that last year's promotions were led by that particular high-ranking person.
Two months later, in September, a more shocking event occurs.
Mr. B, a fifth-level employee in the same department, harassed the victim again.
At this point, it becomes difficult to see it as an unexpected, irrational deviation of a particular individual.
Reasonable suspicion arises whether there is a problem with the crime, internal systems and institutions that followed against the same victim.
※ For reference, a member of the National Assembly who is familiar with the National Intelligence Service said, "We know that the parties accused as perpetrators admitted to the allegations of sexual assault, but denied the allegations of sexual assault."
He added, "In the lie detector investigation conducted by the National Intelligence Service itself, we are aware that a reaction that'the statement is unreliable' came out."
It seems necessary to find out the facts thoroughly.
Job exclusion and inspection investigation conducted ten months after the incident
In conclusion, on the
1st and 16th of last month, the National Intelligence Service lifted the positions of Mr. B and Director A, respectively, who were designated as perpetrators, and went on inspection. Since then, until the 11th, they have been investigating for about a month. And on the 21st, they have notified that they will hold a disciplinary committee. It has been ten months since the first incident in June.
In response, the NIS explained that the victims reported the damage only on March 18, and immediately initiated an investigation after reporting to the director the next day. In addition, regarding the delay in the exclusion of Director A's duties, it was explained that the first investigation was delayed due to the occurrence of close contact with Corona 19 in the department at the time. They are not intentionally trying to cover up or reduce the case.
In short, "I didn't know because there was no report". This is something you can understand. In particular, given the peculiarity of sexual offenses, there are certain aspects that can be convinced. However, it seems difficult to avoid criticism that the NIS' internal surveillance system has shown its limits.
An official from the National Assembly who was well versed in the circumstances of the NIS said, "In the NIS, rumors related to the incident have spread from the end of the year." It is regrettable in many ways that the internal inspection department did not understand the story that even the National Assembly officials had at the end of the year.
Rather, there were reports that the NIS was internally engaged in a crackdown.
An official from the National Assembly said, "I know that as the story of the case circulates, certain departments are publishing an official letter stating,'If I spread rumors, I will severely punish it.'"
He added, "Director A, who was alleged as the perpetrator, tried to take the victim female employee to his department to prevent the spread of the rumors, and it is understood that a female employee who felt fear again reported this."
In fact, after the SBS report, which first reported the sexual harassment case, an official from the National Intelligence Service delivered a message saying, "The incident broke and cracked down.
Invisible, invisible, so even more dangerous
If this is true, it is difficult to avoid pointing out that the NIS's internal inspection system needs to be rechecked. As mentioned earlier, the life of an intelligence agency is security. NIS employees are required to report before and after meetings or contacts with journalists, politicians, or officials from certain organizations.
This means that it is practically not easy for NIS employees to inform the media, external organizations, civic groups, and politicians about the damage, like public officials and gang members. It's hard to even imagine writing damage to an anonymous bulletin board app. This is why the NIS's internal surveillance system must work preemptively, elaborately, carefully, and carefully. In this regard, the explanation that the fact that the National Assembly had already understood was not recognized because a report was not received is inevitable.
In the past 70's, if you listen to the broadcast of Korean boxers' overseas away matches through the radio, our players will unconditionally win. It's no wonder that our player was beaten throughout the game just a little bit, and what we hit was a final blow. However, the result was quite often our player's defeat.
It is a skit created by a mysterious combination of the patriotic announcer and narrator who self-centered explaining the physical limitations of the listeners who cannot watch the game in person, and the situation.
The nature of the invisible, invisible, and thus more dangerous intelligence agency. The boxing match in the 70s and the situation of the NIS are oddly overlapping.
In fact, a lawyer from the National Intelligence Service, who was consulted during the interview process, stressed this way.
"NIS security is only security for information activities. It is a legal matter to protect sexual crimes within an organization for security reasons." This is also the reason we made this case public in an article.
The National Assembly Information Committee, in charge of the NIS, is also known to be planning to urge serious follow-up measures such as severe disciplinary action and criminal prosecution against the NIS officials in the near future.
One major accident, and the incidents that were hidden behind it
Among the many laws of the world, there
is also
the'Heinrich Law
'. In the early 1903s, when HW Heinrich, who was the manager of an American insurance company, analyzed the accident through customer consultation, the
rule of '1 vs. 29 vs. 300' was derived. What this means is simple. Before one major accident, there were 29 similar minor accidents, and more than 300 signs of abnormality were detected around them.
In a word, it means,'If you look at one, you can see the heat.'
This Heinrich Law applies without exception to this case of sexual harassment by the NIS.
Earlier, in 2017, a third-level deputy manager sexually harassed female employees from special schools and specific occupations, and in 2018, it was revealed that the female boss and male subordinates were mistreated by the HR department. And last year, it was belatedly confirmed that the first-level director had an inappropriate relationship with two female employees.
If it had not been for an intelligence agency, it would have been known through the media. And the perpetrators would have suffered greater social and economic penalties. But it was buried for a long time. And there may still be more cases still buried.
In addition to the 1 major accident revealed, 29 minor accidents and 300 abnormal signs may still be hidden.Why should the NIS' internal surveillance system be more sophisticated and thorough? It is also the answer to this.
Unusual official apology and expectations
"We apologize to the people for this fact that has occurred at the nation's top intelligence agency."
After the SBS report, the National Intelligence Service released an unusual press release and apologized in this way. At the same time, the facts were confirmed, explained, clarified, and even forwarded quickly and in detail. It was a (positively) unfamiliar appearance that I had not experienced while covering the NIS. Personally, I remembered the words of former Minister of Culture and Tourism Lee Chang-dong, "If you want genuine communication, even if it's uncomfortable and painful, you shouldn't avoid it."
Previously, National Intelligence Service Chief Park Ji-won said of his press office like this. "Don't lie to the press. Don't discriminate in the media. Always communicate with journalists for all meals." Yet
"haejueo preservative role of Kane encounters a journalist maintain a sense of the average moral is always check the words and actions yourself."
It was also called. I understand that this move reflects the media outlets like this. I could also expect that it would be better tomorrow than today.
Nevertheless, as mentioned earlier, contact with the intelligence agency and the media is limited. It has been and is bound to continue. Not only the press, but also external contacts, such as civic groups, are bound to have both quantitative and qualitative limitations. This is because of the nature of being an intelligence agency.
That's why organs themselves need to develop internal powers that can act as preservatives.Only then will we be able to receive the trust of the people and be given vitality as an intelligence agency.
American Eastern philosopher William E. Griffith
wrote the expression "
The Messenger on the Dark path
" in his book "Corea, the Hermit Nation" in 1882
. It was an expression referring to Amhaengeosa. Now, the people are seriously asking the best intelligence agencies in Korea.
"Is there really a'messenger walking on the dark road' inside our intelligence agency?" Now is the time for the NIS to respond with concrete actions.
▶ [Exclusive] "National Intelligence Service Director, Female Employee Sexual Harassment"… Belated disciplinary undertaking