N. Korea preparing for foreign experts' visit to nuclear test site: S. Korea's spy agency
- 5 years ago
South Korea's National Intelligence Service was under scrutiny at the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Rival lawmakers peppered the intel chiefs with questions on North Korea's movements,... as well as debated plans to transfer the NIS' investigation rights.
Kim Min-ji reports.
North Korea appears to be preparing for a possible visit by foreign experts to its nuclear test site.
During a closed-door parliamentary audit on Wednesday,... rival lawmakers quoted the National Intelligence Service as saying that there have been signs of preparations and intelligence-related activity,... and that the North has been revamping accommodation facilities and the entrance near the Yeongbyeon nuclear complex.
North Korea had said during the inter-Korean summit in September that it would be willing to shut down Yeongbyeon... should the U.S. take corresponding measures.
In May, it demolished its nuclear test site at Punggye-ri in the presence of foreign journalists,... and has torn down some missile launching facilities at Dongchang-ri.
Another topic of heated debate was reform of South Korea's spy agency... in particular, the transferring the power to investigate communist activities to another agency.
Reforming the NIS was one of key pledges of President Moon Jae-in as a way of preventing the abuse of power in view of the illegal activities the agency was involved in under the previous conservative governments,... such as intervening in politics and monitoring civilians.
Currently, one proposal is to give the power to investigate communist activity to the police,... but the opposition parties have been against the idea saying that the agency's main role is to prevent and detect enemy espionage.
Rival lawmakers said that they're working on a deal to provide a grace period of three years,... even if they write the change into law. But some opposition lawmakers said if that's the case, then the actual amendment should be pushed back for another three years as well,... or be carried out under the next government.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.
Rival lawmakers peppered the intel chiefs with questions on North Korea's movements,... as well as debated plans to transfer the NIS' investigation rights.
Kim Min-ji reports.
North Korea appears to be preparing for a possible visit by foreign experts to its nuclear test site.
During a closed-door parliamentary audit on Wednesday,... rival lawmakers quoted the National Intelligence Service as saying that there have been signs of preparations and intelligence-related activity,... and that the North has been revamping accommodation facilities and the entrance near the Yeongbyeon nuclear complex.
North Korea had said during the inter-Korean summit in September that it would be willing to shut down Yeongbyeon... should the U.S. take corresponding measures.
In May, it demolished its nuclear test site at Punggye-ri in the presence of foreign journalists,... and has torn down some missile launching facilities at Dongchang-ri.
Another topic of heated debate was reform of South Korea's spy agency... in particular, the transferring the power to investigate communist activities to another agency.
Reforming the NIS was one of key pledges of President Moon Jae-in as a way of preventing the abuse of power in view of the illegal activities the agency was involved in under the previous conservative governments,... such as intervening in politics and monitoring civilians.
Currently, one proposal is to give the power to investigate communist activity to the police,... but the opposition parties have been against the idea saying that the agency's main role is to prevent and detect enemy espionage.
Rival lawmakers said that they're working on a deal to provide a grace period of three years,... even if they write the change into law. But some opposition lawmakers said if that's the case, then the actual amendment should be pushed back for another three years as well,... or be carried out under the next government.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.