The South Korean Ministry of National Defense Inspection Team stated on Wednesday (August 28th) that a civilian employee of the Korean Defense Intelligence Command (KDIC) has been arrested for allegedly leaking military secrets. The employee admitted to being recruited by Chinese intelligence agents in 2017.
The 49-year-old civilian employee admitted to following instructions from Chinese agents to collect intelligence through printing, taking photos, screenshots, etc., and bringing the collected information to his personal residence outside the camp, then transferring it through Chinese cloud services. The leaked military secrets included the list of overseas intelligence agents.
For years, the South Korean military did not detect this significant security loophole in the highly sensitive Defense Intelligence Command until an investigation began in June of this year.
Prosecutors stated that the defendant admitted to being recruited by Chinese agents in 2017 and had received cash during a business trip to China.
The defendant had previously served as an officer in the Defense Intelligence Command and was hired as a civilian employee around the year 2000 to carry out operations in China and other locations.
In April 2017, while attempting to contact local agents at Yanji Airport in China, he was detained by Chinese authorities. He informed prosecutors that he started cooperating with Chinese agents due to threats to his family’s safety.
Upon returning to South Korea, he did not report his experiences to the authorities. He also admitted to leaking military secrets since around November 2017 and receiving cash during his visits to China.
He initially claimed to have acted under duress but later admitted that he began actively sending more secrets in exchange for more money. Prosecutors believe that economic gain was his primary motive.
Prosecutors revealed that the stolen files were uploaded to a Chinese cloud service in multiple compressed files, each with password protection. The defendant then transmitted the passwords to Chinese agents through voice messages in a gaming application. Investigators have analyzed and recovered thousands of these messages.
The investigation confirmed that since June 2022, the defendant leaked 30 pieces of military information and received approximately 160 million South Korean won (about $120,000) through dummy accounts starting from May 2019. Among these pieces of military information, 12 were documents, and 18 were voice messages, including lists of undercover agents.
Due to insufficient concrete evidence, the information leaked from 2017 to early 2022 and the amount of cash received between 2017 and 2019 were not included in the charges.
On August 27th, military prosecutors filed charges against the intelligence officer for offenses including breach of trust, accepting bribes, and violating the Military Secrecy Act.
However, no espionage charges were brought, apparently due to the lack of clear ties to North Korea at the moment. South Korean military law defines espionage as engaging in espionage activities for North Korea.
Nevertheless, prosecutors pointed out that the Chinese agents claimed by the defendant could still potentially be North Korean agents, and the investigation into the case is ongoing.
(Reference to reports from Yonhap News Agency and Chosun Ilbo)