On the afternoon of the 29th in Seoul, at the National Assembly in Yeouido, a full committee meeting of the Information Committee was held attended by Choi Tae-young, the head of the National Intelligence Service. A military intelligence official A, who is suspected of leaking the identities of military intelligence officers from the Defense Security Command, was arrested on the 30th. A is accused of leaking military secrets containing the real names, ages, activity countries, and overall status of the Defense Security Command unit of agents disguised as ‘black agents’ who operate abroad. ‘Black agents’ are undercover agents operating abroad under false identities, distinct from ‘white agents’ who collect information while working as embassy personnel. However, military prosecutors could not charge A with espionage under military law as the recipient of the leaked information was identified as a Chinese ethnic (Chosun-jok).
The military is investigating how A obtained the sensitive information about the hard-to-reach intelligence agents within the Defense Security Command and whether there were accomplices within the organization. Following the incident, lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties were briefed by the military and the Defense Security Command, saying that measures were taken to minimize the damages by recalling overseas personnel, prohibiting business trips, and conducting a thorough system check. Two lawmakers mentioned that A’s claim of ‘North Korean hacking’ was untrue.
Although A has not been linked to North Korea so far, he was charged with leaking military secrets (punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment or a fine) rather than espionage (death penalty or life imprisonment) due to insufficient evidence connecting him to North Korea. The military is continuing the investigation to determine the possibility that the identified individual with Chinese nationality is an agent of the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau and whether the leaked information has reached North Korea. Without confirmation, A cannot be charged with espionage in the future.
In light of A’s case, calls are being made to broaden the definition of espionage beyond ‘enemy countries (North Korea)’ to ‘foreign countries’ in both criminal law and military law. In 2018, there was a case where an agent who leaked over 100 military secrets to China and Japan did not receive an espionage charge but was sentenced to four years in prison. Choi Tae-young, the head of the National Intelligence Service, stated in front of the Information Committee on the 29th that they will push for legal amendments to expand the application of espionage charges. The need for revising the ‘espionage’ provision has also been raised by the opposition. Since 2004, various bills to revise the espionage laws (criminal law and military law) have been consistently proposed with bipartisan support but have not crossed the parliamentary threshold.
Even in the 21st National Assembly, there were four bills proposing amendments to the espionage provisions in criminal law, with three of them being initiated by members of the ruling Democratic Party. However, at the time, the Democratic Party members of the Legislation and Judiciary Subcommittee of the National Assembly expressed the need to clarify the scope of espionage activities and leaking of national secrets, resulting in these bills going unresolved. As the 22nd National Assembly convenes, lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties have continued to propose amendments to the espionage laws. Rep. Han Dong-hoon of the People Power Party took to Facebook to advocate for the revision of the espionage laws to establish the minimum legal safety net to protect our citizens and national interests.