‘알 자리자’ 등 외신, 잇따라 韓 사이버司 수사발표 보도
미국 일간지 <월스트리트저널>과 아랍권 최대 위성방송인 <알 자지라>가 국방부 사이버사령부의 정치 개입 의혹과 관련된 중간 수사 발표에 대해 보도했다.
20일 <WSJ>은 “한국 정부 요원들 정치개입 혐의”라는 제하의 기사를 통해 “2010년 1월부터 올해 10월까지 사이버 심리전단이 올린 286,000건의 게시글 중 특정 정당이나 의원들을 칭송하거나 비방하는 온라인 게시글이 2,100개가 있었다”는 군 사이버사령부 조사본부장의 중간 수사결과를 전했다.
<WSJ>은 심리전단의 사명이 북한과 관련된 문제들에 있어 선전·선동, 온라인 루머에 대응하는 것이라고 설명했다. 신문은 이어 정치글들이 지난 대선에 영향을 주기 위해 작성된 것은 아니었고 국정원과 국방부 사이의 연계된 증거는 발견할 수 없었다는 군 사이버사령부 백낙종 조사본부장의 말을 전했다.
이어 ‘국민들에 대한 모욕’이라면서 재수사를 촉구한 김한길 민주당 대표의 말을 보도하며, 인권변호사이자 한양대학교 교수인 박찬은씨의 “빙산의 일각만 밝힐 가능성이 크다”는 발언을 기사 말미에 그대로 전했다. (☞‘WSJ’ 기사 원문 보러가기)
아랍권 최대 위성방송인 <알 자지라>도 19일 “한국의 정치 사이버 전쟁”이라는 제목의 기사를 통해 “박근혜 대통령은 사이버 전쟁에서 헤어나지 못하고 있다”고 진단했다.
<알 자지라>는 선거 결과와 함께 지난 대선 1년을 정리하며 “12개월이 지난 지금, 사실들이 얼마나 달려져서 나타나고 있는지 여름 이후, 지난 대선에 대한 논란으로 인해 한국 정치는 모든 면에서 마비되어 버렸다”고 분석했다.
이어 사이버 사의 중간 수사 발표 소식을 전하며 “이만하면 야당 정치인들이 반칙이라고 외칠 정도가 되고 남는다. 민주당은 중간수사 발표를 ‘황당하고 뻔뻔’하다고 했다”고 보도했다.
<알 자지라>는 박근혜 대통령이 자신은 도움 받은 바 없다고 주장하지만 야당 국회의원 몇몇이 선거의 합법성에 의문을 제기하는 것을 멈추게 하지는 못했다면서, 한 국회의원은 대통령에게 사퇴할 것을 요구했다고 전하기도 했다.
또한, 국정원이 자체 개혁안을 발표했지만 북한의 선전활동에 대응해야 하는 시스템에서 문제는 여전히 남아 있고, 기사 말미에 “좋게 보아도 합법적 활동과 정치 개입사이의 경계는 여전히 모호하다”고 전했다. (☞‘알 자지라’ 기사 원문 보러가기)
| 다음은 정상추 네트워크의 ‘WSJ’ 기사 번역 원문. South Korean Agents Accused of Political Interference South Korea’s defense ministry said its cyberwarfare agents broke political neutrality by criticizing opposition lawmakers online, part of a wider scandal about government agencies’ activities during the presidential election last December. Baek Nak-jong, the chief investigator of a probe into the military’s Cyber Warfare Command, said Thursday the investigation found 2,100 online postings praising or blasting specific parties or lawmakers among 286,000 posts written by its psychological-warfare unit since the command’s foundation in January 2010 until Oct. 15 this year. The mission of the psychological-warfare unit is to counter propaganda and online rumors from North Koreaon issues that include the sinking of a South Korean corvette in 2010 attributed to but denied by the North. Mr. Baek denied that the messages about South Korean politicians and political parties were designed to influence the presidential election last December in President Park Geun-hye’s favor, an allegation that has caused a political mud fight in Seoul this year. Specific names of opposition politicians were mentioned in the 2,100 postings, Mr. Baek said, “but not with the goal of political interference.” Linking politicians with North Korea is highly sensitive in South Korea, which remains technically at war with its northern neighbor. (Photo) People shout slogans during a candle-light demonstration demanding an apology from South Korean President Park Geun-hye to the nation, and calling for the resignation of National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Nam Jae-joon in central Seoul August 10, 2013. In June, prosecutors indicted a former spy-agency chief for orchestrating a Twitter smear campaign against government critics. The chief, Won Sei-hoon, and the agency have said the messages were a part of their normal psychological warfare operations against North Korea, the line also maintained by the defense ministry. The agency has also announced a set of internal reforms, which critics have called insufficient. The defense ministry has asked prosecutors to charge 11 officials of the psychological-warfare unit for the breach of political neutrality, according to the investigator. Mr. Baek said the investigators couldn’t find proof of coordination between the defense ministry and the national spy agency. He added that the head of the psychological-warfare unit said he acted without orders from his superiors. Kim Han-gil, the leader of the largest opposition Democratic Party, said Friday the results were “offensive to the people” and urged a fresh investigation. Some pundits have questioned how much impact the alleged campaign on Twitter and other online forums could have had in Ms. Park’s presidential victory, particularly as polls showed her main support came from older voters less familiar with social media. Ms. Park has denied involvement and said the government will enact additional measures to ensure impartiality after the probes are over. Doubts about the government’s online psychological activity are likely to linger as proving secret agencies’ activities will be difficult in court, according to Park Chan-un, a human-rights lawyer and professor at Hanyang University in Seoul. “It’s bound to uncover just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. |
| 다음은 정상추 네트워크의 ‘알 자지라’ 기사 번역 원문. South Korea's political cyber war 19 Dec 2013, Harry Fawcett (Photo) South Korea's President Park Geun-hye is sucked into a cyber war that has dragged on since last year's presidential polls [AFP] Exactly a year ago, South Koreans were watching a hard-to-call presidential election unfold. A close race between the liberal opposition candidate, Moon Jae-in, and the daughter of a former dictator, Park Geun-hye, was at last playing out, with Ms Park appearing to have pulled away slightly in the final days. She had risen above accusations by her opponent's supporters that she had benefited from dirty tricks carried out by the country's intelligence agency. Police had cleared the National Intelligence Service of an attempt to smear Mr Moon online – an act that would have broken its constitutionally-defined role, the terms of which bar it from meddling in politics. When the polls closed, Ms Park had won with 51.5 per cent of the vote, to Mr Moon's 48 per cent. How different things look 12 months later. Since the summer, South Korea's national politics have been seized, in every sense, by the row over the last election. On the anniversary of Park Geun-hye's victory, a military investigation into one arm of the establishment – the military's Cyber Command set up to counter North Korean internet attacks – has delivered its interim verdict. Eleven officials, including the head of the psychological warfare unit, are to be handed over to prosecutors for indictment. They're accused of posting nearly 300,000 comments on social networking sites, criticising Mr Moon and his Democratic United Party. The senior man is alleged to have ordered his juniors to spread his anti-Moon writings, and to disregard political neutrality in their own online postings. But in announcing all this the lead military investigator also cleared the present and former chiefs of Cyber Command of ordering the online activity, adding that nobody, the 11 accused included, had meddled in the election. 'Shameless and absurd' More than enough for opposition politicians to cry foul. The renamed Democratic Party has called the interim conclusion "shameless and absurd". The party wants an independent inquiry into the whole matter – covering the actions of Cyber Command, and the National Intelligence Service. The NIS has for months been under investigation again, after a police chief was charged with withholding evidence in order to squash the initial claims against the agency. Prosecutors say the service sent some 1.2 million tweets, either attacking Mr Moon, or praising Ms Park. The President has consistently said that she did not ask for any such assistance, and has called on the opposition to allow the investigators to do their work. It hasn't stopped some opposition MPs from questioning the legitimacy of the election; one recently called on President Park to resign. Last week the NIS submitted plans to reform itself to the National Assembly: its new chief reportedly offering regrets to the politicians for the trouble that his agency had caused. The plan includes less domestic spying, more severe punishment for agents guilty of political interference, and a ban on former spies joining any political party within three years of leaving the service. But questions remain over a system where military and government agents are charged not just with defending the state from physical and cyber attack, but challenging "anti-state" North Korean propaganda online. It leaves the line between legitimate activity and political meddling blurred at best. |
