hankyoreh

The National Intelligence Service Reform Committee found that a NIS blacklist of 249 cultural figures had been divided into three categories: A, B, C and denied government subsidies to these individuals in an effort to stifle art, theatre, and literature critical of former president Park Geun-hye. The committee also found that the NIS had reported these activities to Blue House senior officials. These activities took place over a period of two years and seven months, with the NIS designating 348 individuals as, “problematic characters,” out of an initial list of 8500 cultural figures submitted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. The photo shows former presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon, a key figure in the blacklist scandal, being led into a courtroom of the Seoul High Court in the Seocho District to begin the first phase of his trail on Oct. 17. (Yonhap News)