Military Prosecution Unit: "Over 100 Million Won Received in Cash, Total of 12 Cases Transferred"
"Unclear if Data Reached North Korea, Espionage Charges Not Established"
An agent (civilian employee) A of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces Intelligence Command (ROK Intelligence Command) was confirmed to have been recruited by a suspected Chinese intelligence agent and received billions of won in money several times.
According to the military prosecution on the 28th, civilian employee A of the ROK Intelligence Command, who is accused of leaking personal information of military intelligence agents the day before, was arrested and indicted. Charges applied include ▲ general treason under the Military Criminal Act ▲ violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery) ▲ violation of the Military Secrets Protection Act.
According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 28th, the Ministry of National Defense Prosecution and the ROK Counterintelligence Command arrested and investigated A on charges of general treason under the Military Criminal Act, violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery), and violation of the Military Secrets Protection Act, and indicted him the day before.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, A was recruited by an intelligence agent in China around 2017 and, under his instructions, detected and collected military secrets through methods such as printing, photographing, screen capturing, and taking notes of classified information. A was a former military officer who had engaged in espionage activities and was re-employed in the Intelligence Command as a civilian employee. The information included the real names and countries of operation of black agents?i.e., Intelligence Command agents?who disguised themselves as businessmen and collected North Korean information in China, Russia, and other places, as well as the overall status of the units.
A illegally took this classified information out to his private residence outside the military and leaked the information by uploading it to a Chinese internet cloud server. To evade investigation, A showed meticulousness by accessing the cloud with different accounts each time, setting passwords for each file, and deleting chat records. It was investigated that A delivered military secrets to the Chinese intelligence agent and received billions of won in return through nominee accounts and others. A’s crime was uncovered by the Counterintelligence Command in June of this year, and he was arrested on the 30th of last month.
However, A claimed that he was hacked by North Korea. Subsequently, the Counterintelligence Command confirmed that personal information of agents engaged in North Korea-related espionage work was leaked and fell into the hands of a Chinese person. It is also known that information about ‘black agents’ who operate undercover was leaked. Security materials stored on computers inside the Intelligence Command were transferred to A’s personal laptop, and it was revealed that these materials were leaked externally again. The act of transferring military secrets to a personal laptop itself is a violation of the Military Secrets Protection Act.
Earlier, the ROK Counterintelligence Command referred A to the military prosecution on the 8th for violation of the Military Secrets Protection Act, as well as general treason under the Military Criminal Act and espionage charges.
After reviewing the investigation records of the Counterintelligence Command, the military prosecution did not apply espionage charges to A. The Military Criminal Act and Criminal Act apply espionage charges to those who commit espionage acts for the ‘enemy,’ where the enemy refers to North Korea. The military prosecution’s decision not to apply espionage charges to A is interpreted as due to the lack of clear connection with North Korea.
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