The country’s spy agency came under heavy fire Monday following media reports suggesting that the people who broke into a Seoul hotel room being used by an Indonesian presidential envoy last week were its agents.
Although the National Intelligence Service (NIS) refused to confirm the reports, it is under growing pressure to reveal whether it spied on the Indonesian delegates.
Some observers warn that the scandal could stir up a diplomatic feud between Seoul and Jakarta. The Indonesian government has demanded an explanation from Seoul regarding the incident, a foreign ministry spokesman said.
Hatta Rajasa, the coordinating minister for economic affairs — a deputy prime minister-level post — reported the case to a nearby police station, Wednesday, after a delegation member found two men and one woman downloading confidential files from a laptop computer to a USB memory stick.
The “thieves” fled the scene immediately with the memory stick, according to the report. It is not known whether they completed copying the information on the computer.
In their Monday editions, local newspapers the Chosun Ilbo and the Hankyoreh, citing unnamed police sources, alleged that the thieves were NIS agents and they attempted to steal information on Indonesia’s planned arms trade with South Korea.
Initially, police said they secured “blurry” CCTV images showing the people entering the 19th floor of the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul, where the delegation was staying.
Some hotel staffers, however, claimed that the images were clear enough to identify their faces.
Seoul has engaged in negotiations with Jakarta to export the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jets, the indigenous K2 Black Panther battle tanks and conventional weapons, including portable surface-to-air missiles.
“We suspect that the thieves, who appear to be South Korean agents, tried to steal the data on defense cooperation programs with Indonesia in a bid to defend Korea’s national interests,” the Chosun Ilbo quoted a source as saying.
The newspaper quoted another source as saying that the NIS “went too far” to help the government’s sale of the T-50s.
“It’s quite obvious that the planned arms deal with Indonesia has been thrown into question,” a diplomatic source told The Korea Times.
“The best way to resolve the case is to explain what happened to the Indonesian side in a sincere manner as soon as the government concludes its investigation. We must do our best to prevent a diplomatic row with Indonesia.”
The 50-member high-level delegation of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrived in Seoul on Tuesday for a three-day visit, which included a courtesy call to President Lee Myung-bak and discussions on expanding bilateral economic and military cooperation.
The delegation returned home on Thursday with a statement that the talks with Korean officials were “very successful.”
인도네시아 대통령 특사단 숙소 괴한 침입 사건에 대해 일부 언론에서 국가정보원 연루설을 제기하자 관계 당국이 곤혹스런 표정을 감추지 못하고 있다.
국정원의 부인에도 불구하고, 이미 정치권 일각에선 이번 사건을 국정원 직원의 소행으로 기정사실화하고 “국제적 망신”이란 비판을 쏟아내고 있는 상황이다.
사건의 파장이 계속 커질 경우 결과적으로 양국 관계에도 부담이 될 수밖에 없다는 지적이 제기되고 있다.
이와 관련, 국가정보원 직원이 사건 발생 다음 날 남대문경찰서를 방문, 신고 내용 등을 문의한 것으로 확인됐다.
한편 인도네시아 정부는 국가정보원이 연루됐다는 언론보도와 관련해 21일 한국 정부에 사실 확인을 요청했다고 외교부 관계자가 전했다.
![[PHOTOS] It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/newsV2/images/santa_0001_9a339f16fb3ac.JPG/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] INFINITE's Nam Woo-hyun returns after battling with rare cancer](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/a3c3440b8dc84bce8ca94394a170fef2.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[PHOTOS] It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas](http://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/newsV2/images/santa_0001_9a339f16fb3ac.JPG/dims/resize/268/optimize)
