Suspicion of DSC’s Intelligence Activity on N.K. through Civilian

There is controversy over the suspicions that the Defense Security Command (DSC) has ordered a South Korean civilian to conduct espionage and information gathering activities on North Korean defectors residing in China.

The DSC is reported to make the civilian record defectors’ testimony on tape and summit a report about North Korea’s military maps. He was also requested to glean information on spies for Pyongyang residing in South Korea.

“At the request of the counter intelligence agency, I gathered information on North Korea from mid-October to early this year, during which I visited China on several occasions,” said a man identified only as Mr. Lee (43, Bucheon-si, Geonggi-do). He was in and out of China for the past 2 years, because of his apparel business.

Mr. Lee said that in the middle of last October, an ethnic Korean living in China introduced a North Korean defector, 63, identified only as Mr. Kim, to him in Yanji, China.

According to Mr. Lee, he reported it to the DSC upon returning home a few days after he was given information by Kim, who was said to be former senior officer in the North Korean army, about a tunnel that North Koreans secretly dug in Yeoncheon, Geonggi-do.

However, officials with the agency expressed doubts on the information, so they asked Mr. Lee to bring the audio taped testimony and mark for the alleged tunnel area on a map that they gave him. Lee said, “Last November I met Mr. Kim in China again and let him spot the area on the map. Later I submitted the map to the agency.”

He also added that he collected information on North Korean spies living in South Korea at the request of the DSC and sent the information to it.

In response to his saying, the DSC explained that their request for his cooperation in the intelligence activities was somewhat inevitable in order to collect information ahead of their start on investigation.

ysh1005@donga.com