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| ▲ This Sept. 15, 2022, file photo of Kim Tae-hyo, first deputy chief of the presidential National Security Office. (Yonhap) |
opposition lawmakers-security official
Opposition lawmakers call for dismissal of deputy NSO chief over past leakage of military secrets
SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) -- Lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on Friday called for the dismissal of Kim Tae-hyo, first deputy chief of the presidential National Security Office (NSO), a day after a court convicted him of having leaked confidential military secrets under a conservative administration.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court finalized the guilty verdict for Kim who served as a presidential secretary for external affairs and strategies during the Lee Myung-bak administration from 2008 to 2011.
"At this point, Kim should step down voluntarily. If he does not, the president should make a call," Rep. Kim Byung-joo, DP's executive secretary of the parliamentary defense committee, said.
"The first deputy chief of the NSO is an important position that handles key security issues ... We cannot entrust South Korea's national security with a criminal who leaked military secrets," DP lawmakers of the defense committee said.
They also slammed the government's decision to participate in Japan's international fleet review on Nov. 6 for the first time in seven years, calling it a "pro-Japan thinking."
"Is it trying to salute to the Rising Sun Flag when court cases on wartime forced labor by Japan have yet to be settled?" Rep. Sul Hoon said.
Many Koreans view the Rising Sun Flag, formerly used by the Japanese Imperial Army, as a symbol of the country's past militarism.
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