US Singles Out 'Intelligence and Counterintelligence': Why Washington Is Raising Concerns

[Anchor]

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young met with reporters today (October 12) and stated that "there is nothing wrong with the South Korea-U.S. alliance." However, two days ago, the U.S. government mentioned "compliance with alliance standards" and officially singled out matters related particularly to "intelligence" and "counterintelligence." What exactly are the "intelligence" and "counterintelligence" issues the U.S. pointed to? According to our reporting, the "intelligence" concern raised by the U.S. involves a recent significant drop in Special Intelligence (SI) provided by the South Korean military, while the "counterintelligence" issue stems from frustration that South Korea is failing to properly counter Chinese nationals snooping on U.S. military bases in the country.

Senior defense reporter Kim Tae-hoon reports exclusively.

[Reporter]

Last month, the Pyeongtaek Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office indicted two Chinese nationals under physical detention on charges of wiretapping communications between military aircraft and control towers at U.S. Air Force and Navy bases in Busan, Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, and Gunsan in North Jeolla Province.

One of the indicted Chinese nationals is a former serviceman who retired after serving 40 years in a communications interception unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

Incidents of Chinese nationals being caught photographing internal installations and military assets at U.S. Air Force and Navy bases stationed in South Korea have also occurred frequently.

A senior South Korean government official told SBS, "While spying activities by Chinese nationals targeting U.S. military bases in South Korea are increasing, our response has been falling short."

The official lamented, "In particular, with the dissolution of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, the military's counterintelligence functions and personnel have been curtailed, making it difficult to detect Chinese nationals' surveillance activities against U.S. bases in a timely manner, and we have been unable to accommodate requests from the U.S. to step up counterintelligence operations targeting Chinese nationals."

This indicates that the "counterintelligence" issue pointed out by the U.S. government when citing "compliance with alliance standards" refers directly to South Korea's counterintelligence response to Chinese nationals spying on U.S. military bases.

Regarding alliance standards, the "intelligence" issue is understood to be tied to the activities of units subordinate to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

A key military official stated, "South Korea-U.S. intelligence sharing is a reciprocal relationship of give and take, and the U.S. particularly values North Korea-related SI produced by the DIA's 777 Command and the Defense Intelligence Command—specifically, special intelligence gathered from analyzing intercepted communications and signals intelligence."

"However, under the current administration, following the aftermath of martial law and considerations regarding inter-Korean relations, units under the DIA were scaled back in organization and function, leading to a decrease in the volume of North Korea-related SI," the official added. "As a result, the amount of SI provided to the U.S. side has shrunk, and Washington is complaining about this."

Because counterintelligence and SI capabilities cannot be restored in a short period, controversy over cracks in South Korea-U.S. intelligence cooperation is expected to persist for some time.

Video by Kim Hyun-sang | Video Editing by Jung Sung-hoon | Graphics by Han Heung-soo
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.