appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Bloomberg

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.


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.


For US allies, ensuring economic security has become more complex

EU and China set for Paris talks this week as trade war fears mount

South Korea’s ruling party set for local election gains, exit poll shows

What Seoul must do to achieve peaceful coexistence with North Korea

South Korea

South Korea arrests official for alleged leak of overseas spies list

A visitor takes photos toward the North Korea side from the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea. Photo: AP

South Korea’s ex-spy chief dismisses report Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae will be successor

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, with his daughter and his wife Ri Sol-ju (left), attends a performance to celebrate the New Year in Pyongyang, North Korea, on December 31, 2023. Photo: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un with his sister Kim Yo-jong during an inter-Korean summit at the Peace House building on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom in April 2018. Photo: Korea Summit Press Pool / AFP

South Korea probes data leak of agents spying on the North

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery in Pyongyang on July 26. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

North Korean soldiers stand near their military guard post, seen from Paju, South Korea. Photo: AP

North Korean hackers are stealing military secrets, US and allies say

The FBI has issued an arrest warrant for Rim Jong-hyok, one of the alleged North Korean hackers from the Andariel group, and offered a reward of up to US$10 million for information that would lead to his arrest. He was charged with hacking and money laundering, according to a poster uploaded to the FBI’s Most Wanted website on Thursday July 25, 2024.

Rim Jong-hyok faces hacking and money-laundering charges, according to a poster uploaded to the FBI’s Most Wanted website on Thursday. Image: FBI

North Korea flies more trash balloons after Seoul resumes propaganda broadcasts

A balloon presumably sent by North Korea, is seen in a paddy field in Incheon, South Korea, on June 10. Photo: AP

Loudspeakers set up for propaganda broadcasts near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea in 2018. South Korea said on Friday it has restarted anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts across the border. Photo: AP

News

Asia

East Asia

Seoul calls back overseas agents for safety as investigation team rules out possibility of hacking attack


Seoul calls back overseas agents for safety as investigation team rules out possibility of hacking attack.


North Korea

Korean peninsula

Espionage

South Korea arrests official for alleged leak of overseas spies list

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Seoul calls back overseas agents for safety as investigation team rules out possibility of hacking attack

Seoul calls back overseas agents for safety as investigation team rules out possibility of hacking attack