I am so ready for a North Korean spy scandal right about now …
[Update: He resigns. Kim Man-Bok claims that his motive in leaking the tape was to dispel speculation that he met with Kim Yang-Gon to try to influence the South Korean election. Using Nordpolitik is a well-established way of trying to influence South Korean elections, and I’m not sure exactly how Kim M.B. expected to reassure anyone about what’s not on the tape. To me, one missed significance of this is the casual ease with which Roh’s people accepted North Korea’s espionage/influence/subversion in their country, to the point of still being willing, at least indirectly, to subsidize it.
The Chosun Ilbo suggests that Kim M.B. was carrying another illegal payment for the North and questions the timing. My gut tells me we haven’t heard the last of this one.]
But what the hell is this? Definitely not the answer I’ve been waiting for:
National Intelligence Service Director Kim Man-bok is set to become the target of an inquiry, as evidence shows that he was directly and indirectly involved in the leak of secret documents purporting to record a conversation between him and the head of North Korea’s clandestine activities in the South, Kim Yang-gon. The NIS [OFK: National Intelligence Service] already launched an internal inquiry at the request of president-elect Lee Myung-bak’s Transition Committee. [Chosun Ilbo]
Just so I understand this, Kim leaked a transcript or recording of himself talking to the North Korean spymaster who runs all of Kim Jong Il’s spies in the South? WTF am I missing here? Can someone explain Kim’s possible motivation for leaking this? How does this make Kim look good or his enemies look bad? This makes about as much sense as Mike Huckabee leaking a tape of himself getting busted on “To Catch a Predator.”
What I want to know is why, just as the Il Shim Hwe spy scandal bumped against the gates of the Blue House, President Roh suddenly replaced the head of the NIS with our man and UniFiction Minster Lee Jae-Joung’s fishing buddy Kim Man Bok. As he cleaned out his desk, the outgoing NIS head and some opposition pols suggested that the Blue House might have been trying to block the Il Shim Hwe investigation. Admittedly, that’s a lot of weasel words in one sentence, but being paranoid doesn’t necessarily mean that people aren’t really plotting against you.
To me, with my lowish expectations of Lee Myung-Bak himself, possibly learning the rest of the Il Shim Hwe story has always been the most intriguing thing about Lee winning December’s presidential election. Sure, Kim Man Bok’s visit to Pyongyang the day before the election was interesting, but not suggestive in any particular way. I’m still holding out for the sound of a bigger shoe hitting the floor. Step back from those shredders, boys.