Umbrella union files complaint against NIS for allegedly leaking probe info

SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) said Thursday it will file a complaint against the head of the national spy agency and three other agency officials for allegedly leaking information regarding a criminal probe facing the union.

The KCTU, one of South Korea's two biggest umbrella labor unions, said the complaint will be lodged with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials against Kim Kyou-hyun, the director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), and the three others.

The union accused the NIS officials of leaking information to conservative media outlets about criminal charges facing KCTU members when their offices were raided by the NIS and police in January.

Intelligence and police investigators searched the KCTU headquarters in central Seoul on Jan. 18 over KCTU officials' alleged contact with North Korean spies without government authorization in violation of the National Security Act.

The labor sector has vehemently protested the raid, accusing the Yoon Suk Yeol government of oppressing labor unions and painting an ideologically unfavorable image of the union.

"We strongly denounce the Yoon government and the NIS' efforts to ensnare the KCTU even before the final court ruling is made on national security law violation charges," Han Sung-kyu, vice chief of the umbrella union, said.

pbr@yna.co.kr
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