"Security Gaps Due to Yongsan Relocation... Cheong Faces Difficult Structure for Wiretapping"

Former Defense Command Chief Kim Do-gyun MBC Interview
"Yongsan, Security Vulnerabilities Including Proximity to US Military Base"

Regarding the revelation of wiretapping suspicions by U.S. intelligence agencies on South Korea's National Security Office, former Capital Defense Command Commander Kim Do-gyun diagnosed that security vulnerabilities were exposed due to the rapid relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan.

In an interview with MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the 11th, Commander Kim stated, "In the past, the Blue House was physically difficult to wiretap by external forces," and pointed out, "Considering the proximity to the U.S. military base, Yongsan inevitably has a structure vulnerable to security."

He especially noted, "(The Ministry of National Defense Joint Chiefs of Staff, which is close to the presidential office) inevitably maintains many wired and wireless networks for the purpose of conducting joint operations with the U.S. military," making security maintenance even more difficult.

The Presidential Office building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

He said, "As you know, the relocation of the Blue House to Yongsan was carried out as a speed operation," adding, "The issues of moving the existing Ministry of National Defense Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters and its subordinate agencies, as well as the relocation of the presidential office and the reorganization of the security unit, made it a physically insufficient and burdensome process even when considering hardware elements."

He continued, "In such circumstances, although software elements like security issues were probably considered, it would have been physically difficult to proceed normally."

Commander Kim recalled that when he worked at the Ministry of National Defense building (now the presidential office), construction was carried out to install an anti-wiretapping system on the office windows. However, he said that now that the Ministry of National Defense building has been converted into the presidential office, higher-level security measures should have been implemented compared to the past.

Commander Kim stated, "(Wiretapping technology) has become highly advanced technically, so wiretapping is actually possible not only through windows but also by utilizing walls." He also mentioned the possibility of using telephone wiretapping or intelligence satellites.

Commander Kim added, "Basically, all responsible agencies recognized the very important role of security issues during the Yongsan relocation process, but it is necessary to review what security measures have been implemented over the past year."