Prosecutors drop probe into ex-spy chief

By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korean prosecutors on Monday dropped their probe
into a former spy chief who admitted leaking information about his contact with
his North Korean counterpart, citing his past service for the country.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office said it concluded the probe into
Kim Man-bok, former head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), considering
his voluntary resignation and "his long meritorious service to the country."
Prosecutors had investigated Kim since February 2008, when he publicly admitted
leaking excerpts of his talk with Kim Yang-gon -- the director of the United
Front Department of the North Korean Workers' Party and a close confidant of the
North's leader Kim Jong-il -- to some local media.
The investigation had focused on whether his dialogue with the North Korean spy
chief should be classified as confidential, and whether the media leak of the
conversation should be subject to criminal punishment. The chief, who resigned
following the admission, was not indicted.
South Korea's spy chiefs have traditionally faced a dishonorable end after the
inauguration of each new government. In the latest such case, Lim Dong-won, NIS
chief for then President Kim Dae-jung, received a suspended jail term for
illegally sending funds to North Korea in return for holding the 2000 summit of
the two Koreas shortly after Roh Moo-hyun became president.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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