By Yoo Dong-ho
Staff Reporter

President Roh Moo-hyun said Monday that he will not take disciplinary action in connection with the kidnapping-murder case of Kim Sun-il in Iraq, until the ongoing investigation is complete and those responsible are found out.

``I want to dismiss any speculation over the possibility of punitive measures or a personnel reshuffling before the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) completes its investigation on the issue,’’ Roh was quoted as saying by presidential spokesman Yoon Tai-young.

The president’s remarks, which came in a meeting with senior presidential aides, should be understood as an indication of his firm will to take strict punitive steps against those accountable for mishandling Kim’s kidnapping and death, Yoon explained. Heads of the foreign ministry, the National Intelligence Service, and the National Security Council, are facing pressure to take responsibility for the bungled handling of the Kim case.

His comments came immediately after the state audit agency embarked on questioning foreign ministry officials to verify their ineptitude.

Jeon Yun-churl, chief of the nation’s top inspection agency BAI, called on ruling and opposition lawmakers to reschedule for the National Assembly hearing on Kim’s tragic death to head off internal confusion. ``The month-long parliament hearing will overlap with the state auditors’ ongoing inquiry in terms of witnesses and period of time,’’ Jeon said.

Leaders of the major parties, however, declined to do so citing the Assembly’s check-and-balance function. ``The BAI’s investigation is conducted at the order by President Roh, but the parliamentary inquiry is the call of people,’’ said opposition Grand National Party floor leader Kim Deog-ryong.

Public criticism mounted after the Associated Press, a U.S. news agency, reported that one of its reporters in the Seoul bureau asked the Foreign Ministry on June 3 whether one of its citizens with a name that sounded like ``Kim Sun-il’’ was missing or in captivity in Iraq, but was told no.

After repeated denials, the Foreign Ministry later acknowledged that two ministry officials had received phone calls from a foreign news agency about the case.

The state-run auditing team intensively interrogated related officials regarding who ever received a call from AP and requested KT Corp., the nation’s No.1 fixed-line service provider, release phone records of conversations between ministry officials and the AP.

The 16-member state auditing team will expand the scope of the investigation to include the National Intelligence Service, the Defense Ministry and the National Security Council as well as the Foreign Ministry.

The team will leave for Iraq today to investigate the Korean Embassy in Iraq and explore suspicion on whether the government agencies snubbed any chance to rescue Kim as asserted by the AP report.

yoodh@koreatimes.co.kr