29.07.2024, Seoul.
The leak of confidential information concerning numerous South Korean intelligence agents will significantly complicate the Korean Defense Intelligence Command’s (KDIC) work and its overseas operations, The Korea Times informed on July 28.
The leak, which was discovered about a month ago, concerns sensitive information, particularly the biographical details of intelligence agents known as “white agents,” who operate under diplomatic cover, and “black agents,” who conceal their ties to the South Korean government. It was revealed on Saturday.
The agents play a crucial role in intelligence operations, especially those related to North Korea.
The investigation focuses on a person, a former soldier who works as a civilian employee for the KDIC. The classified data was transferred from KDIC’s externally hacker-protected computers to the suspect’s personal laptop, and according to experts, it is highly unlikely that such a transfer could have occurred without his knowledge. Having classified information on his personal device is against protocol in any case.
The hacking of classified data had immediate and severe consequences. Some agents sent overseas had to urgently stop their activities and return to South Korea, the newspaper said. Because the identities were revealed, they cannot be used in other areas, causing a significant disruption to South Korea’s intelligence network. The incident caused significant damage, undermining years of efforts to organize and conduct covert operations.
As The Korea Times notes, this is not the first time the KDIC has faced similar problems. In 2018, the head of an intelligence group was caught selling military secrets to foreign organizations, something he had been doing for several years. The incident, which took more than five years to uncover and remedy, exposed significant vulnerabilities in South Korea’s counterintelligence measures.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
