The South Korean military is embroiled in a security controversy following the alleged leak of highly sensitive military secrets, including a list of undercover intelligence operatives, to foreign countries, a situation disclosed to the public by a member of the National Assembly on July 27.
Kim Min-seok, a member of the main opposition Democratic Party, revealed that the nation’s defense intelligence had been compromised by a military officer who allegedly provided a foreign agent with confidential information. The agent, a Korean Chinese individual with suspected ties to the North Korean intelligence agency, was fed crucial data including the real names, ages, and operational countries of undercover agents working under false identities. This information was transferred to the agent several times this year. Authorities suspect that some of the leaked information has reached North Korea.
On July 30, the South Korean defense ministry announced that it had requested an arrest warrant for the military officer accused of leaking military secrets to a foreign agent. The suspect claimed that the incident was a result of external hacking of their personal computer. The Korea Defense Intelligence Command (KDIC), a government organization responsible for safeguarding military secrets where the suspect worked for, concluded the breach did not result from hacking attacks.
The suspect allegedly printed and sent confidential information to a third party, including detailed profiles of South Korean intelligence operatives active abroad. In addition to the real names and countries of operation of the operatives, the leak included other sensitive data, such as the status of all KDIC employees.
A spokesperson for the Defense Counterintelligence Command (DCC) stated that the person who received the secret files belongs to the Korean ethnic minority group known as Korean Chinese, or ‘Chosunjok.’
After the breach was confirmed by the military and human intelligence officers, commonly referred to as ‘HUMINT,’ a number of intelligence agents working abroad have been restricted from further intelligence activities, according to multiple news sources. The leaked confidential data included the identities and personal information of two types of South Korean intelligence agents: “white agents,” who operate under diplomatic cover, and “black agents,” who conceal their connections to the South Korean government. In response to the leak, agents deployed in China had their operations aborted and were hurriedly returned to South Korea.
A military court is investigating whether the leaked secrets were handed over to North Korea and if the Korean Chinese individual was involved with the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea’s primary covert intelligence agency targeting South Korea.
It is believed that the secrets were leaked from the officer’s laptop. Although the individual has denied the allegations, claiming that the laptop was hacked, the military court holds the suspect responsible for the incident, asserting that storing sensitive information on a personal laptop remains a serious issue, regardless of whether the leak resulted from hacking or intentional misconduct. Moreover, a list of secret agents must not exist in an organized format due to security concerns, according to the DCC.
Although the DCC was aware of the breach as early as last month, it did not initiate an investigation into the incident until it faced intense public criticism regarding its security protocols.
The Ministry of National Defense told The Readable that the investigation is ongoing and that it cannot disclose any information beyond what has already been reported.
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