During the 8th hearing for the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol conducted by the Constitutional Court on the 13th, the 'personal favor' controversy involving former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Vice Administrator Hong Jang-won emerged. Testimonies indicated that a request for a personal favor regarding Hong was conveyed to the NIS Director through a third party during the previous administration. In response, Park Ji-won, a former NIS Director, noted that he received a personal favor request through 'a former NIS official who served as the ambassador to the UK,' drawing attention to who that might be.
◇ Former and current NIS directors mention 'Hong Jang-won personal favor'
The controversy regarding the personal favor request by former NIS Vice Administrator Hong Jang-won was triggered by the testimony of NIS Director Cho Tae-yong, who appeared as a witness in the Constitutional Court that day. Cho stated, 'Around last summer, a certain opposition lawmaker from the previous administration's NIS mentioned Hong, saying, “Didn’t I receive requests for personal favors seven times through a prominent person while I was at the NIS?”'
In response, President Yoon's side asked, 'A person who served in the previous administration's NIS could either be Representative Park Sun-won or Representative Park Ji-won, is that correct?' Cho replied, 'Yes. I don’t think I need to mention who it is between the two.'
Then, Democratic Party Representative Park Ji-won posted on Facebook. Park served as director of the NIS from July 2020 to May 2022 during the Moon Jae-in administration. He stated in his Facebook post, 'It was not directly Hong Jang-won who requested a favor from me; rather, a former NIS official who served as ambassador to the UK had requested it six to seven times, and I rejected all of them.' He added, '(Regarding the personal favor request), I asked Hong during a (National Assembly) intelligence committee meeting and reprimanded him about whether he had made any requests for favors.'
In response, Lee Seong-gwon, the ruling party's secretary of the National Assembly's intelligence committee, stated to ChosunBiz, 'The relevant dialogue is recorded in the minutes of the National Assembly intelligence committee from August 26 last year.' He mentioned that the details are as follows.
[ Park Ji-won: Did you know that a high-ranking NIS official whom I could not refuse requested personal favors from me seven times during my directorship? ]
Hong Jang-won: Did you say seven times?
Park Ji-won: Are you saying you were aware of the requests for personal favors?
Hong Jang-won: I do not remember making personal favor requests to Park Ji-won, the then NIS Director.
Park Ji-won: You are saying you did not do it, but do you know that it was that person who did it? ]
◇ Who is the 'former NIS official who served as ambassador to the UK' that allegedly made personal favor requests?
As comments from Representative Park Ji-won's Facebook post and the minutes of the National Assembly's intelligence committee were revealed, attention focused on who the 'former NIS official who served as ambassador to the UK' and 'the high-ranking NIS official whom I could not refuse' that allegedly made personal favor requests to Hong Jang-won was.
Among the former ambassadors to the UK who served as senior NIS officials is Ra Jong-il. Ra served as Vice Administrator 1 and Vice Administrator 2 in the National Security Planning Agency during the Kim Dae-jung administration. After that, when the Agency was renamed the National Intelligence Service, he also served as the first Vice Administrator. He took on the role of ambassador to the UK afterward.
Representative Park has also held key positions such as chief of staff to the president, senior secretary for policy planning, senior secretary for public relations, and minister of culture and tourism during the Kim Dae-jung administration.
However, NIS Director Cho Tae-yong stated that he had not investigated the claim that Hong Jang-won had made personal favor requests to opposition lawmakers. When the National Assembly asked, 'Was there any confirmation after the claim that Hong had made personal favor requests during the intelligence committee meeting?' Cho replied, 'I did not investigate.'