Korea’s security is at serious risk[Editorial]

An official prepares a briefing at the Ministry of National Defense on June 4. Yonhap News

The Defense Counterintelligence Command (DCC) is reportedly investigating the situation that confidential information containing the personal information of the Korea Defense Intelligence Command (KDIC)’s overseas agents, who are in charge of intelligence operations in North Korea and overseas, has been handed over to North Korea and other countries. It is a particularly serious case because up to thousands of information and even information on "black agents" who work under false identities were leaked. It was only two weeks ago that the movements of a National Intelligence Service (NIS) agent were exposed in the U.S., causing international embarrassment. In other words, there are holes in the security of South Korea’s two major intelligence agencies, the KDIC and the NIS.

Counterintelligence authorities on July 29 learned that top secret information, including the identities of intelligence agents, was leaked through the personal laptop of Mr. A, a civilian military employee of the KDIC, and are considering prosecuting him soon. The employee claims that his laptop was hacked, but the fact that classified data was stored on a personal laptop is itself a problem. It is worrisome how the leaked information will be used as well as the safety of agents performing dangerous missions for the country. Rebuilding a broken intelligence system will not happen overnight, so I am worried about how long the aftermath will last. The authorities should mobilize all their capabilities to thoroughly understand what information was leaked, where it went, and if there were any accomplices.

While information and security accidents have not been uncommon under previous governments, they have become more frequent under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration this year. On July 16, the U.S. federal prosecution indicted Sue Mi Terry, a senior researcher at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and a Korean-American expert on North Korea, on charges of receiving bribes from the NIS and handing over non-public information over the past decade. Photos of NIS agents contacting her were also released. The NIS denied any knowledge of the scandal, so there is no such thing as an “intelligence disaster.” In January, an Indonesian worker at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) was caught stealing information on the development of the KF-21 fighter jet, a domestic fighter jet, only to be discovered later.

Intelligence agencies operate silently and covertly. The public does not know the details of their activities, and they do not need to. All they need is to believe that they are working for the national interest and national security at the forefront of information warfare. However, the repeated revelations of intelligence agencies' poor activities indicate that there are serious problems with the country’s intelligence and security system. The government should comprehensively re-examine national intelligence capabilities and take measures to prevent recurrence. In addition, it should also revise the Enforcement Decree of NIS to stop attempts to intervene in domestic affairs and make the intelligence agencies focus on their primary mission.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.