Park's aide banned from overseas travel over fresh allegations

Woo Byung-woo, an aide of ousted President Park Geun-hye, has recently been banned from leaving the country as he faces fresh allegations of civilian surveillance and blacklisting of celebrities, sources said Monday.

The former presidential secretary for civil affairs has been standing trial for exerting influence in personnel affairs at the culture ministry under the Park government.

This is the second time he has been banned from overseas travel. The previous ban on Woo was lifted after he was put to trial without detention following the court's rejection of his arrest warrant.

Prosecutors are now set to grill him over fresh allegations based on a statement by a former senior spy agency official in which he confessed he had regularly reported to Woo on high-profile figures who had ties with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Choo Myeong-ho, an ex-unit chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), also told the prosecution that he got instructions from Woo over the phone on whom he should surveil.

Choo's statement could further implicate Woo as he admitted the NIS and the culture ministry worked closely to manage and handle a media blacklist -- a list of people critical of the then-conservative government to be shunned from government support -- after Woo began to give them directions.

Suspicions had been raised over Woo's involvement in the blacklisting of media figures and celebrities, but no compelling evidence was found until now.

Prosecutors are expected to bring in Woo for questioning over the new allegations in the near future.

The prosecution has been digging into a far-reaching political interference scandal under the two previous governments, including a massive secret operation by the spy agency allegedly set up to benefit then-conservative governments and oppress their political opponents

As prosecutors pushed forward with their probe into allegations of political interference by the intelligence agency, they also imposed an overseas travel ban on Nam Jae-joon, a former chief of the NIS.

Nam served as director of the NIS 

Source : Yonhap