[Wang Son-taek] Basic guidelines of intelligence agency

Over the past few days, the Korean Peninsula has been exposed to a flood of sensitive security issues. Above all, the news that North Korea was sending 12,000 special forces troops to Russia drew attention not only from South Korea but also from the international community. This explosive story changed the mood of major domestic politics. In particular, the quantity of negative stories about President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife has decreased to a certain extent. There was also an incomprehensible phenomenon amid the big diplomatic and security news. In other words, intelligence agencies are dealing with sensitive information management poorly.

The intelligence agencies play essential roles in the government's policy-making process, but disclosing information as little as possible is a common practice. Disclosure of information can cause various side effects as human sources and information networks can be damaged. Collecting information can involve illegal acts under international law. Covert actions in foreign nations might invite unnecessary political offenses. So, the disclosure or confirmation of information should be limited. However, since an intelligence agency is a government agency run by taxes, the information will inevitably be disclosed to guarantee the people's right to know and to be controlled by the parliament.

Due to the contradictory condition, the National Intelligence Service has exceptionally disclosed or confirmed information on specific issues. The NIS chief's report to the National Assembly Intelligence Committee is the most realistic compromise. The head of the agency explains sensitive information to the committee, and the committee discloses some possible contents to the public after consultation with the NIS. The agency sometimes issues press releases or references related to sensitive issues, but they are scarce. In this case, it is required that the sentences used in the press release should be straightforward with no unnecessary modifiers.

Suppose information disclosure or confirmation is necessary at the government level. In that case, the NIS should ask the other administration partners, including the Ministry of Unification, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense, to disclose the information with the expression "according to the confirmation of related agencies," which is a tiny indication that the source of the information is the NIS. The most practical way for the NIS to check information is to use the media system. It was often used to provide information to a specific media company under the name of an anonymous source. It is frustrating or uncomfortable for intelligence agencies to disclose information in this way, but it has advantages in that it blocks the possibility of being accused of using sensitive information regarding information network protection while the agency tries its best to serve the people’s right to know.

Let's apply these points and examine this issue. On the 18th, the NIS issued a press release to officially confirm information on the North Korean military's dispatch to Russia. When looking at the NIS confirmation, there are many points to discuss. First of all, it is hard to understand why the NIS directly issued a press release even though it was not an urgent issue. Even without the NIS' direct action, there were ways in which the NIS could seek cooperation from other government institutions. Even if the NIS had no choice but to do it, the agency provided too many explanations such as satellite photos. The NIS will undoubtedly be asked to provide a similar amount of information, including photos, when a similar situation occurs. It would be difficult for the NIS to explain why it cannot answer the request.

If the NIS confirms certain intelligence pieces, it should provide indisputable evidence. But, the reality is different. There are three satellite photos of a Russian landing ship, which appears to have carried North Korean troops, sailing in the East Sea. However, whether the North Korean military is on the boat is still unclear. If the North denies it, it is hard to refute. A video clip that was introduced on the internet by a Ukrainian intelligence agency, in which North Korean troops arrived in the eastern part of Russia and received personal military equipment.

There are also images of North Korean soldiers training at an army training site in Russia. However, the pictures of young people in the clip gave off an exotic atmosphere. There was the Korean language to be heard, but it is hard to confirm that those voices were from North Koreans because the sounds did not match the screen. There is a Korean language questionnaire related to the hand-out of military caps, but the font and other elements of the document exude the mood of South Korea. In particular, the word "Russia" was written in the South Korean way of writing, not the North Korean style, as the two Koreas often use different pronunciations for the same foreign words. People might say the documents could have been fabricated in Russia or Ukraine.

In the past, the NIS had tried and failed to intervene in domestic politics using sensitive intelligence pieces. When there was a kidnapping of Korean citizens in Afghanistan in the middle of 2007, the NIS chief made an absurd appearance on TV and had an embarrassing introduction to an intelligence agent who participated in a closed-door negotiation for the rescue of hostages. It was a shameful movement by the chief to attract media attention for himself. Since the incident, the NIS's credibility has significantly declined, and it has yet to recover.

Some suspect the NIS' excessive provision of sensitive information this time is also motivated by the political intention to reduce public anger against President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee. As the NIS plays an essential role in foreign affairs, security, trade and high-tech, the agency should not be politically twisted. The NIS and the administration's leader should create a set of practices where NIS employees follow basic guidelines while receiving love and respect from the people.

Wang Son-taek

Wang Son-taek is an adjunct professor at Sogang University. He is a former diplomatic correspondent at YTN and a former research associate at Yeosijae. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. -- Ed.