The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Friday put more weight behind a former foreign minister's claim that South Korea consulted North Korea before its 2007 foreign policy decision related to the communist state's human rights record.

"(We) assume that there is considerable probability (that his claim is true)," presidential chief of staff Lee Won-jong said during a parliamentary audit.

"Though we can't say conclusively (what the truth is) without accurately looking into the situation, evidence and the content have led us to make such an assumption," he added without elaborating on what the evidence is.

In his recently published memoir, former Foreign Minister Song Min-soon contended that Seoul decided not to participate in a UN vote to adopt a resolution on the North's human rights situation after hearing Pyongyang's opinion.

The claim has roiled local politics over the past week, with the ruling Saenuri Party arguing that the former liberal Roh Moo-hyun government was hand in glove with the wayward communist regime.

The allegations have dealt an unexpected blow to Rep. Moon Jae-in, former leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea and potential presidential contender. Moon, who served as chief of staff to then-President Roh, is purported to have proposed asking for the North's opinion ahead of the U.N. vote.

Meanwhile, An Chong-bum, senior presidential secretary for policy coordination, denied allegations that he peddled his influence in the process of raising funds to create the Mir and K-Sports foundations designed to promote Korean sports and culture.

"I have never asked conglomerates to invest in the foundations," he said. "They have voluntarily made their donations." (Yonhap)