South Korea has arrested an official over allegations of leaking defence intelligence that included a list of secret agents posted abroad, prompting the military to bring all of its overseas operatives back home for safety.
A military court issued a warrant to arrest the official Tuesday, South Korea’s Defence Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry declined to give further details, including the identity of the official, citing an ongoing investigation. The official was taken into custody Tuesday, lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun of the ruling People Power Party said after the military briefed lawmakers on the matter in a closed-door session.
The official at the Korea Defence Intelligence Command is suspected of leaking what could be thousands of pieces of intelligence to a Chinese national thought to be an agent for North Korea, South Korea’s Yonhap News agency said, without identifying the source of the information.
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North Korean trash balloons flying into South seen at border
North Korean trash balloons flying into South seen at border
The Chinese embassy in Seoul did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
The incident likely deals a blow to South Korea’s ability to keep an eye on its secretive North Korean neighbour and may dent intelligence relations with its partners the US and Japan as they step up trilateral cooperation to take on security challenges in the region.
The military learned of the incident in June after receiving a report from other intelligence authorities, Lee told reporters after the parliamentary session. The military has since relieved the official of duties, called in all of its overseas agents and banned overseas travel for work, he said.
It was not immediately clear when the leak took place.
“One thing for certain is that it was not a hacking incident,” lawmaker Park Sun-won of the opposition Democratic Party, another lawmaker briefed by the command, said. The military official denied the intelligence leak, claiming a laptop was hacked, Yonhap reported.
Officials at South Korea’s Defence Intelligence Agency and the Defence Intelligence Command told lawmakers at the meeting that much of its intelligence system has been restored, Park said. He declined to comment on how much of the country’s intelligence network was affected.
The incident comes after US prosecutors this month indicted a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst specialising in North Korea on charges of working as an agent for South Korea after leaving the agency in exchange for luxury goods and other gifts.
“Another incident like this in overseas operations is worrying given that ensuring South Korea’s security starts from having accurate information,” said Park, a former spy agency official himself.
