[6. An excerpt from "Communization Operation in S. Korea by Kim Dae-jung and the CheongJukHoe Directors of the NIS", author Jeong Dam / 6. "김대중과 청죽회 국장원장들의 대남적화 공작"에서의 발췌내용, 저자 정담]

천용택은 청죽회(靑竹會) 비밀회원으로서 김대중의 당선에 지대한 공을 세웠던 자이다. 당시에 대부분의 사람들은 천용택 원장이 김대중의 임기와 함께 국정원장직을 수행할 것으로 여겼었지만, 이런 천용택의 말실수가 결국 최인수 납치사건까지 폭로될 것을 우려한 김대중에 의하여 천용택은 즉시 해임(解任)되게 되었던 것이다.

Cheon Yong-taek was a secret member of the Cheongjukhoe (靑竹會) and played a significant role in Kim Dae-jung's election. At the time, most people thought that Director Cheon Yong-taek would serve as the Director of the National Intelligence Service during Kim Dae-jung's term, but Kim Dae-jung, who was concerned that Cheon's slip of the tongue would eventually lead to the revelation of the Choi In-soo kidnapping case, had Cheon immediately removed from his post.

확인되지 않은 또 다른 국정원 내부의 전언(轉言)은 이종찬의 친구인 김우중 회장에게 도움을 요청해서 위기에 처한 자신의 처지를 돌파하기 위해 쿠데타(coup d'é·tat)를 추진하다 발각되어 해임되었고, 이로 인해 ‘대우그룹이 공중분해 되었다’는 설도 있었던 것을 상기해 본다면, 천용택과 이종찬의 알력은 상상을 초월했던 것으로 보인다.

If we recall that there was also an internal report that Cheon was dimissed because he asked Lee Jong-chan’s friend, Kim Woo-choong, CEO of Daewoo Group, for help to break out of his crisis by promoting a coup d'état, which was discovered, and that this led to the “disintegration of Daewoo Group,”-- it seems that the feud between Cheon Yong-taek and Lee Jong-chan was beyond imagination.

천용택 원장의 직접적인 해임 원인이 된 발언은 당시 통일부 임동원 장관이 수행하던 대북 접촉에 대하여, “국정원은 북한 최고 권력자의 움직임과 내부 사정을 손금 보듯 속속들이 파악하고 있다”는 발언 때문이었다.

The remark that directly led to the dismissal of Director Cheon Yong-taek was his statement that “the National Intelligence Service has a thorough understanding of the movements and internal affairs of the highest-ranking North Korean leader” regarding the North Korean contact that then-Unification Minister Lim Dong-won was conducting.

이 사건을 보고받은 김대중은, ‘천용택의 가벼운 입놀림이, 결국 “최인수 사건”을 정치 쟁점화시킬 수가 있다’는 판단을 하고 즉각적으로 해임했던 것이다.

Kim Dae-jung, who was informed of the incident, immediately dismissed Cheon Yong-taek, judging that “Cheon Yong-taek's light-hearted remarks could eventually turn the ‘Choi In-soo case’ into a political issue.”

왜냐하면 이미 최인수가 중앙일보사로 도주를 했었고 그 사실은 이미 여러 사람들에게 목격이 되었고 입에서 입으로 전해지기 시작해서 상당수 영향력 있는 사람들은 알고 있었고, 반(反) 김대중 세력들은 내막을 잘 몰랐던 상황이었다. 하지만 그 사실이 그대로 전파되고 있던 시기라 김대중은 천용택을 즉각 해임(解任)시켰던 것이다.

Because Choi In-soo had already fled to the JoongAng Ilbo, and the fact had already been witnessed by many people and had begun to spread from mouth to mouth, a significant number of influential people were aware of it, and the anti-Kim Dae-jung forces were in the dark about the inside story. However, at the time, the fact was being spread as is, so Kim Dae-jung immediately dismissed Cheon Yong-taek.

이로서 청죽회 출신 2대 국정원장 시대는 막을 내리었고, 청죽회 3대 임동원 국정원장 시대가 막을 올리게 된 것이다.

This marked the end of the second National Intelligence Service (NIS) director from the Cheongjukhoe and the beginning of the third director, Lim Dong-won, from the Cheongjukhoe.

호남세력의 숨은 실세 J

                                    J: The hidden actual power behind the Jeolla forces

육사 29기를 중퇴한 J는, 전남 해남 출신으로 일찌감치 김대중, 김홍일, 이희호 쪽에 줄을 대고 동교동계를 뒷배경으로 하여 정보기관에 투입되었던 인물이다. 국정원 내에서 직급은 높지 않았지만 오히려 직급이 높지 않은 직원들이 장기간 근무를 하면서 내부 정보를 빼내는데 더 적격이었기에 주목을 받지 않으면서도 감쪽같이 일 처리를 하는데 효율적이라 정보계통에서는 오래동안 이용되었던 방법이다.

J, who dropped out of the 29th class of the Military Academy, is from Haenam, Jeollanam-do, and was a person who was put into the intelligence agency with the background of the Donggyodong-gye with Kim Dae-jung, Kim Hong-il, and Lee Hee-ho in his early days. Within the National Intelligence Service, employees with lower ranks were more likely to be qualified to steal internal information over a long period of time, so they were used for this purpose for a long time in the intelligence system because they were efficient at getting things done without attracting attention.

J는 YS 정권 시절 김영삼이 정보기관에 대한 좋지 않은 감정과 인식으로 안기부를 김현철이 관리하도록 방치했을 때에 김현철의 직속이었던 오정소 실장을 통해 J를 검찰과 국세청 등 권력기관을 관리하는 기관 과장으로 임명하여 일하게 되었다.

During the YS administration, when Kim Young-sam had left the Ministry of Information and Communication under Kim Hyun-chul's management due to his negative feelings and perceptions of the intelligence agency, J was appointed by Oh Jung-so, who was Kim Hyun-chul's direct subordinate, to work as the head of the agency that manages the power agencies such as the Prosecutors' Office and the National Tax Service.

J는 대검에서 청와대로 올리는 핵심 정보보고서(일명 ‘혼 보고서’)를 사전에 빼어내 오정소 실장의 책상에 먼저 올리는 수완을 발휘하는 것으로 톡톡히 신임을 받았다고 한다.

J is said to have earned the trust of the agency (boss Oh) by demonstrating the ability to extract key intelligence reports (also known as “Hon reports”) from the National Intelligence Service and deliver them to Director Oh Jung-so's desk first before they got to the Blue House.

이런 수완을 발휘했던 J는 이종찬 체제로 바뀐 정보기관의 인사 태풍에서 살아남지 못하게 되었었다. 그 이유는 정보기관 출신인 이종찬이, 전두환을 잘 이용해 환심을 사서 정치계에서 이미 관록을 쌓아 소위 정치 맛을 봤기 때문에, 자기 세력을 만들려고 하는 속셈에서 호남의 직계 세력인 J를 그대로 유임시킬 리가 없었고 이때 J는 소위 살생부에 명단에 포함된 신세로 ‘이종찬의 제거 대상에 포함되었던 것으로 알려졌다’고 소문나 있었던 것이었다.

J, who had shown such resourcefulness, was unable to survive the personnel shake-up in the intelligence agency that changed to the Lee Jong-chan system. The reason is that Lee Jong-chan, who was from an intelligence agency, had already gained a lot of experience in the political world by using Chun Doo-hwan to win his favor, and he had already tasted the politics, so he had no intention of keeping J, who was a direct force of Honam (Jeollado), in his plot to create his own power. At this time, J was rumored to have been included in Lee Jong-chan's list of targets for elimination because he was on the so-called kill list.

 이런 소문을 잘 알고 있었던 J 경제과장은 자신의 구명(救命) 과정에서 오정소 실장에게 보였던 탁월한 수완을 다시 한번 발휘했다.

J, manager of economics department, who was well aware of these rumors, once again demonstrated his excellent skills in process of saving his neck again, which he already demonstrated to Director Oh previously.

J는 정권 교체 당시 제주지부에 파견돼 있던 당초 124명의 살생부 명단에 끼어 있었다.

J was on the list of 124 people who were originally on the list of people to be killed (purged) when the regime changed and was dispatched to the Jeju branch.

해임(解任) 명단에 들어있던 것을 눈치챘었던 J는 마침 제주도를 방문한 김홍일 의원에게 바짝 접근하여 김홍일 의원이 제주도에 머물던 보름동안 극진히 모시며 동교동계를 위하여 정보기관에 투입되었던 자신의 위기상황과 처지를 호소하며 구명을 요청했었다.

J, who had noticed that he was on the list of those to be dismissed, approached Kim Hong-il, who was visiting Jeju Island at the time, and pleaded for his life, appealing to his plight and situation that he had been assigned to the Intelligence Agency for the sake of Donggyodong-gye (DJ faction) for the 15 days that Kim Hong-il had been staying in Jeju Island.

이렇게 해서 김홍일 의원을 뒷배경 삼아 강제 퇴직을 면하게 된 J는 한동안 국정원 내에서도 한직(閑職)으로 분류되는 정보관리국에 들어가 숨죽이며 지내다가 천용택 체제가 들어서자 실세로 부활하는 수완을 발휘했었던 것이다.

In this way, J, who was able to avoid forced retirement with the backing of Assemblyman Kim Hong-il, spent some time in the Information Management Bureau, which is classified as a low-level position within the National Intelligence Service, and then, when the Cheon Yong-taek regime came to power, he demonstrated his ability to resurrect himself as a power player.

김대중과 김홍일, 이희호 쪽에 줄을 대고 동교동계를 뒷배경으로 하여 정보기관에 투입되었던 J의 구명 과정은 사실상 국정원 내에서도 상당한 무리가 뒤따랐었다. 그것은 구조조정 대상자 가운데 단 한 사람이라도 구제해 주면 구조조정의 원칙이 허물어지기 때문이다.

The process of rescuing J, who had been sent to the intelligence agency with the background of the Donggyodong circle and with connections to Kim Dae-jung, Kim Hong-il, and Lee Hee-ho, was actually followed by a considerable amount of strains even within the National Intelligence Service. This is because if even a single person among the restructuring targets is rescued, the principle of restructuring will be undermined.

당시 이종찬 국정원장의 한 측근의 말을 빌리면, 김홍일의 압력으로 J 前 과장을 다른 사람과 함께 구제하게 되었는데, 이는 J만 예외로 할 경우 뒷말이 생길 수 있었고, 편법을 이용해 소위 물타기 구제(救濟) 함으로써 해직된 직원들에 의해 뒷말이 무성하게 되었던 것은 두말할 나위도 없었다.

According to a close associate of then-National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Lee Jong-chan, Kim Hong-il pressured the NIS to reinstate J, who had been dismissed, along with another person. This was because, if J were the only exception, there would have been rumors, and it was no wonder that the dismissed employees would have been talking about it because the so-called “watered-down” reinstatement was achieved through a shortcut.

이러한 동교동계 직계(直系)인 J에 대한 억지 구제는 훗날 국정원이 휘청거릴 정도의 5대 부정부패 사건 중 발각이 된 진승현 게이트 사건으로 이어지게 되었고 이로 인해 J는 구속 수감이 된 후 정보기관을 떠나게 된다. 그 후 J는 이희호 여사의 최측근으로 활약하다가 이희호 여사가 세상을 떠나자 이제는 5.18 진실을 규명한다는 민간 조직에서 활동하고 있게 된 것이다.

This forced rescue for J, a direct lineage (heir) of Donggyeodong, led to the Jinsung-hyun Gate scandal, one of the five major corruption cases that would later cripple the National Intelligence Service, and J was imprisoned and left the intelligence agency as a result. After that, J worked as a close aide to Lee Hee-ho, but when Lee passed away, he now works for a private organization that seeks to uncover the truth about the May 18th (the Fake Democratization Movement / 518 Coup D'é·tat) Civil Unrest.

이것은 5.18을 일으킨 세력들에 의해 5.18의 진실을 구명하게 되는 등 “5.18 진상규명조사위원회” 자체가 모두 “김대중 여단”으로 활동한 인물들이 자체 조사하는 방식이 되어버린 이상한 일이 대한민국에 내에서 벌어지게 되었던 것이다.  이에 관한 이야기는 후편으로 발간될 책에서 자세하게 다루기로 하겠다. ([김대중과 청죽회 국정원장들의 대남적화 공작], 저자 정담, pp.116-123, 도서출판 청척모)

This is a strange thing that has happened in South Korea, where the “5.18 Truth Commission” itself is being investigated by the very people who were active in the “Kim Dae-jung Brigade,” including those who are investigating the truth of the 5.18 incident. I will cover this in detail in the second part of the book. ([Kim Dae-jung and the Cheongchukhoe National Intelligence Service Directors' Work to Sink South Korea into Communism], Author Jeong Dam, pp.116-123, Cheongchukmo Publishing)