By Park Si-soo
Staff reporter
The military and state intelligence agency are investigating a two-star army general on suspicion of leaking classified information to North Korea, the defense ministry said Friday.
The major general, identified only as Kim, had allegedly handed sensitive information to a former South Korean intelligence agent recruited by North Korea, according to prosecutors and investigators at the Defense Security Command (DSC).
The information is related to Korean and American forces' military operations drawn up in preparation for the possible breakout of war, they said.
The apprehension of the army general on an espionage charge came amid escalating inter-Korean tension caused by the sinking of a South Korean warship by a North Korean torpedo near the disputed sea border in March. Forty-six crewmembers were killed in the nation's most tragic naval incident since the 1950-53 Korean War.
It also came just days after the prosecution arrested a female North Korean for stealing "confidential" information about the National Police Agency and various private firms using people she met through Internet chat rooms. She entered the country by disguising herself as a defector.
The investigation of the general opened after security authorities had two South Koreans in custody Thursday ㅡ a former executive of a local defense firm and a former secret agent surnamed Park ㅡ on charges of handing military secrets to the communist North after receiving operational funds.
Park acquired military information through the general, relayed it to a North Korean agent in China, and received an unspecified amount of money. Investigators will try to determine if Kim and Park had accomplices.
In April, two North Korean spies were caught attempting to enter the country, also claiming to be defectors. They were seeking to assassinate Hwang Jang-yup, the highest-ranking North Korean defector here.