Lee Myung-bak gov’t also created blacklist

The government of former conservative President Lee Myung-bak is suspected of blacklisting left-leaning cultural figures and mobilizing the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to harrass them in various ways, an NIS reform task force said Tuesday.

The task force was set up after the inauguration of liberal President Moon Jae-in in May and has asked prosecutors to launch an investigation into allegations that the NIS created a list of TV celebrities and artists to persecute them for their critical stance toward the Lee government.

The allegation drew attention as a top aide of ousted President Park Geun-hye, Lee’s successor, received a three-year jail term in late July for blacklisting thousands of cultural figures considered critical of the Park government and excluding them from state subsidy programs.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Monday it received a formal request from the NIS to look into its former chief Won Sei-hoon and a ranking NIS official named Kim Joo-sung on possible charges of being involved in the blacklisting of cultural figures during the Lee administration from 2008 to 2013.

The two former NIS officials are accused of setting up a team in charge of documenting anti-government figures, and of exerting influence on government agencies and media companies to weed them out — violations of the laws on abuse of power — according to task force officials.

The artists were labeled as “left-leaning” and banned from appearing on TV programs or in films. Under Won’s direction, it also ran a secret online campaign mainly aimed at tainting their reputations and accusing them of being pro-North Korea. Won led the NIS from 2009-2013.

The NIS also allegedly induced the state tax agency to conduct an audit on the entertainment companies that had contracts with the artists. It pressured a public broadcaster to suspend some blacklisted artists from hosting a radio program or close down certain shows.