South Korean spy in apparent suicide leaves note hinting at hacking scandal
The intelligence officer was found dead in his car just south of Seoul
A South Korean government spy was found dead on Saturday in an apparent suicide alongside a note that seemed to comment on the recent revelation that the spy agency had acquired hacking programs capable of intercepting communications on mobile phones and computers, police said.
A police official in Yongin city, just south of Seoul, said the 46-year-old National Intelligence Service agent was found dead in his car, but would not reveal the agent’s name or details about the note, saying his family requested that the information not be made public.
The NIS said on Tuesday that it had purchased the hacking programs in 2012 from an Italian company, Hacking Team, but that it used them only to monitor agents from rival North Korea and for research purposes. The story emerged earlier this month when a searchable library of a massive email trove stolen from Hacking Team, released by WikiLeaks, showed that South Korean entities were among those dealing with the firm.
The revelation is sensitive because the NIS has a history of illegally tapping South Koreans’ private conversations.
Phone calls to the NIS office rang unanswered on Saturday.