South Korea arrests official over alleged data leak exposing spies, reports
By Hyunsu Yim
SEOUL, July 31 (Reuters) -A South Korean court has issued an arrest warrant for an official at the country's military intelligence command for allegedly leaking classified data identifying agents working overseas, according to the defence ministry and media reports.
The defence ministry confirmed in a text message sent to reporters on Tuesday that a military court had issued an arrest warrant for an official at the agency, though declined further comment as an investigation was ongoing.
Media reports said the suspect, who works at the Korea Defense Intelligence Command (KDIC), was accused of leaking personal information on agents to a Chinese individual of Korean descent. The official was not identified and it was not immediately clear if they had been taken into custody.
The leaked data stored on computers at KDIC was transferred to the official's personal laptop, before it was leaked, the Yonhap news agency reported, without citing sources.
The information included a list of so-called "black agents", a term used in South Korea for non-official spies performing undercover espionage overseas, as opposed to "white agents" with official titles, Yonhap said.
The official had denied leaking and said that the laptop had been hacked, the news agency said. Yonhap said authorities were concerned the data might have been given to North Korea.
Lawmakers briefed by military intelligence officials said the leak was not a result of a hack and was first discovered in June.
"Overseas staff were immediately ordered to be recalled," lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun who sits on the intelligence committee told reporters on Tuesday.
Authorities were looking into potential violations of military criminal law as well as the National Security Act and treason, lawmakers said.
The intelligence committee was very concerned over damage to the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the country's spy agency, lawmaker Park Sun-won said, noting the case comes after the arrest in the U.S. of a former White House official accused of being a South Korean agent.
Sue Mi Terry, who advocated South Korean policy positions and once worked for the CIA and on the White House National Security Council (NSC), has been indicted on charges that she worked as an unregistered agent of South Korea's government in exchange for luxury goods and other gifts. Her lawyer has said his client denies the charges.
Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Ed Davies
Últimas noticias
Descargo de responsabilidades: Cada una de las entidades de XM Group proporciona un servicio de solo ejecución y acceso a nuestra plataforma de trading online, permitiendo a una persona ver o usar el contenido disponible en o a través del sitio web, sin intención de cambiarlo ni ampliarlo. Dicho acceso y uso están sujetos en todo momento a: (i) Términos y Condiciones; (ii) Advertencias de riesgo; y (iii) Descargo completo de responsabilidades. Por lo tanto, dicho contenido se proporciona exclusivamente como información general. En particular, por favor tenga en cuenta que, los contenidos de nuestra plataforma de trading online no son ni solicitud ni una oferta para entrar a realizar transacciones en los mercados financieros. Operar en cualquier mercado financiero implica un nivel de riesgo significativo para su capital.
Todo el material publicado en nuestra plataforma de trading online tiene únicamente fines educativos/informativos y no contiene –y no debe considerarse que contenga– asesoramiento ni recomendaciones financieras, tributarias o de inversión, ni un registro de nuestros precios de trading, ni una oferta ni solicitud de transacción con instrumentos financieros ni promociones financieras no solicitadas.
Cualquier contenido de terceros, así como el contenido preparado por XM, como por ejemplo opiniones, noticias, investigaciones, análisis, precios, otras informaciones o enlaces a sitios de terceros que figuran en este sitio web se proporcionan “tal cual”, como comentarios generales del mercado y no constituyen un asesoramiento en materia de inversión. En la medida en que cualquier contenido se interprete como investigación de inversión, usted debe tener en cuenta y aceptar que dicho contenido no fue concebido ni elaborado de acuerdo con los requisitos legales diseñados para promover la independencia en materia de investigación de inversiones y, por tanto, se considera como una comunicación comercial en virtud de las leyes y regulaciones pertinentes. Por favor, asegúrese de haber leído y comprendido nuestro Aviso sobre investigación de inversión no independiente y advertencia de riesgo en relación con la información anterior, al que se puede acceder aquí.
