Cho Tae-yong, the nominee to be South Korea’s spy chief on Thursday denied allegations that he had reaped financial benefits from a dubious property deal with a South Korean affiliate of U.S. oil producer Exxon Mobil.
Rep. Hong Ihk-pyo of the main opposition Democratic Party raised suspicions that Cho received huge rental fees between September 2017 and December 2019 by leasing his home in central Seoul to Mobil Korea Lube Oil Inc.
The lawmaker said rental fees worth about 12 million won (US$9,130) per month were provided to Cho in the cited period, raising suspicions that it might be part of the U.S. company’s business lobby, rather than a normal property deal.
At a parliamentary confirming hearing, Cho, the nominee to lead the National Intelligence Service (NIS), denied allegations that he received financial benefits from the deal.
“I’ve never met people working at Exxon Mobil either officially or privately before or after (the leasing contract was signed),” Cho said, adding that the deal was clinched
via a realtor.
He said there seems to be no reason for the U.S. company to provide financial benefits as he was not in public office at that time.
Earlier in the day, Cho, a former national security adviser under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, said he will strengthen the NIS’ intelligence gathering capabilities over key threats to the national security, such as North Korea’s provocations.
“The agency plans to boost its capability to collect and judge intelligence over threats to the national security, such as signs of North Korea’s military provocations and growing ties between Russia and the North,” Cho said.
He also vowed stronger cooperation in sharing intelligence between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo, and efforts to deter North Korea’s illegal cyber activities aimed at financing its nuclear and missile development programs.
North Korea is widely expected to carry out military provocations or stage cyberattacks ahead of South Korea’s parliamentary elections in April and the U.S. presidential electio
n in November.
Earlier this week, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called South Korea the country’s “principal enemy” and threatened to “annihilate” the South if it attempts to use force against the North.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
