Cover-up alleged in presidential police death

Suspicions have been raised that the shooting that took place in the Chong Wa Dae compound in May last year was an accidental killing.

Rep. Kim Won-Wung of the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) said Wednesday that he had received a letter from a senior official of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) claiming that the particular case was not an accidental shooting but intentional murder.

Rep. Kim also made public the two-page letter he received.

On the basis of the letter, Rep. Kim contended that the previously announced incident that an officer had mistakenly fired his gun and killed a companion policeman was not true but in actuality the policeman was shot to death by his senior officer during a quarrel.

According to the lawmaker, the incident took place at the 55th guard post about 50 meters from the presidential office May 31, and next day, June 1, Lee Moon-Young, the commissioner general of the National Police Agency, Park Kum-Seung, chief of the 101st Security Team, and deputy director of the PSS, got together and fabricated the incident as a mere mistaken shooting case and made a false report to the president.

Moreover, the PSS officials also interfered with the discussions with the bereaved family on the compensation and gave the family a huge sum of money in compensation to address the incident quietly.

The related Chong Wa Dae officials countered that the letter must have been written by some outsider of the presidential office who was attempting to defame Chong Wa Dae, pointing out that the letter contained several mistakes, such as naming Chong Wa Dae as Chong Hwa Dae and incorrect description of the president's itinerary of his overseas trip.