By Yoo Dong-ho
Staff Reporter
The government will not comply with calls from the National Assembly for reports on administrative affairs if they are related to confidential secrets that may affect national security, Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan said Thursday.

The tough measure comes amid controversy over the leakage of some confidential information, including a military secret on North Korea’s missile threats, by opposition lawmakers during the Assembly inspection of the government.

``Lee will send a letter to Assembly Speaker Kim One-ki demanding appropriate measures to prevent recurrence of similar cases,’’ an official at the prime minister’s office told reporters.

The opposition Grand National Party (GNP) immediately launched strong criticism against the government move, calling it a scheme to curb the opposition’s fair attempt to check the administration.

``The government is trying to shout down the opposition,’’ vice floor leader Nam Kyung-pil told The Korea Times. ``We’re ready to meet force with force.’’

Earlier in the day, the ruling and opposition parties clashed head-on over the controversial issue, crippling an inspection session of the Defense Ministry.

The GNP called for an open apology by the ruling Uri Party’s Rep. Ahn Young-keun for labeling GNP’s Park Jin, the lawmaker who disclosed the military secret, as a ``spy’’ serving the enemy of state.

``Park is nothing short of a spy because the release of confidential information constitutes a leak of top military secrets,’’ Ahn argued.

Describing Ahn’s remark as reckless profanity and defamation, the GNP demanded in a statement that Ahn retract his words and that his remark be deleted from stenographic records.

``It is outrageous for the Uri Party to lean towards a modified McCarthyism to hobble an opposition lawmaker’s concerns over national security,’’ said GNP spokesman Yim Tae-hee.

On Monday, Park quoted a report by a state-run research center that said Seoul would be overwhelmed by North Korea within 16 days without U.S. help. ``The enemy’s long-range artillery is capable of firing 25,000 shots an hour into the city, and one third of Seoul would be destroyed,’’ he said.

In another controversial case, Rep. Chung Moon-hun, also from the conservatives-dominated GNP, created a stir earlier this week by revealing classified documents on Seoul’s plans to take control of North Korea in the event of a sudden collapse of the communist regime.

Uri Party leaders said that the disclosure of national secrets such as preparation plans for a possible North Korean attack and Seoul’s contingency plan against North Korean collapse are grave breaches of security.

Uri Party floor leader Chun Jung-bae argued the exposure of state secrets by opposition lawmakers was a clear violation of the military intelligence protection law, hinting that his party may attempt to put the issue on the agenda for the Assembly’s ethics committee.

yoodh@koreatimes.co.kr