State spies' role is to protect, not poach, citizens' privacy
By sacrificing himself, the state intelligence agent suspected of snooping on citizens might have hoped the scandal would also die. As almost everyone else could expect, however, his suicide note dilated, not diluted, the need to get to the bottom of this incident, which could develop into another controversy that pits national security against citizens' privacy.
One cannot help but raise at least two questions concerning the death of the agent, surnamed Lim. First, what drove him to make such an extreme decision if he was not involved in domestic spying as he claimed in his suicide note? Second, why did he delete all the data in his computer, and why did he think it was for the sake of his organization, the National Intelligence Service? Could it be as simple as protecting the honor of the NIS, as Lim claimed?
Death should pay all scores, and we send condolences to the bereaved family members of Lim, who gave 20 years of service to the nation. This notwithstanding, it is hard not to ask what have the state spy agency and its leadership done while one of their agents was destroying official data for up to four days.
Few can know which of the two conflicting allegations are true: the NIS acknowledges it bought software from the Italian company, Hacking Team, which can hack into PCs and smartphones, but used it only for activities related to North Korea. The opposition lawmakers, noting that they have found 138 Korea-based Internet addresses in the Italian company's leaked files, claim the spy agency might have snooped on citizens in the run-up to major elections in 2012.
For most Koreans who remember past NIS irregularities, such as fabricating North Korean spies and intervening in politics, the latest accident comes as deja vu.
In a departure from their previous stance, the state agency's leadership is responding to the latest scandal with rare speed and spontaneity. The state spies even issued a statement, in the form of a press release, lamenting that "groundless accusations" by politicians ― i.e. the liberal opposition lawmakers ― have driven a colleague to death. The almost unprecedented counterattack has led to the ruling party's calls for stopping "partisan bickering" over national security issues. We hope the governing camp is right because we, like most Koreans, do not want to reaffirm the state spy agency was a pawn of the power elite ― yet again.
The NIS and conservative media say Korea is the only country ― out of 97 organizations in 35 countries that also bought and used the Italian hacking program ― that is making a big fuss of it. The reason is quite simple and all Koreans, including those in power, know it. The state spy agency has often served as an organ for a particular political group, like those in banana republics, rather than one for the entire nation and its security.
The NIS has only itself to blame. And the biggest victim is the nation's national security as these scandals deepen people's distrust of the state agency. If the NIS has the will to reform itself to be a "pure" intelligence organ, the ongoing scandal should be a blessing in disguise. This is why the government and its party must show "bipartisanship" in revealing, instead of hiding, the truth.
By sacrificing himself, the state intelligence agent suspected of snooping on citizens might have hoped the scandal would also die. As almost everyone else could expect, however, his suicide note dilated, not diluted, the need to get to the bottom of this incident, which could develop into another controversy that pits national security against citizens' privacy.
One cannot help but raise at least two questions concerning the death of the agent, surnamed Lim. First, what drove him to make such an extreme decision if he was not involved in domestic spying as he claimed in his suicide note? Second, why did he delete all the data in his computer, and why did he think it was for the sake of his organization, the National Intelligence Service? Could it be as simple as protecting the honor of the NIS, as Lim claimed?
Death should pay all scores, and we send condolences to the bereaved family members of Lim, who gave 20 years of service to the nation. This notwithstanding, it is hard not to ask what have the state spy agency and its leadership done while one of their agents was destroying official data for up to four days.
Few can know which of the two conflicting allegations are true: the NIS acknowledges it bought software from the Italian company, Hacking Team, which can hack into PCs and smartphones, but used it only for activities related to North Korea. The opposition lawmakers, noting that they have found 138 Korea-based Internet addresses in the Italian company's leaked files, claim the spy agency might have snooped on citizens in the run-up to major elections in 2012.
For most Koreans who remember past NIS irregularities, such as fabricating North Korean spies and intervening in politics, the latest accident comes as deja vu.
In a departure from their previous stance, the state agency's leadership is responding to the latest scandal with rare speed and spontaneity. The state spies even issued a statement, in the form of a press release, lamenting that "groundless accusations" by politicians ― i.e. the liberal opposition lawmakers ― have driven a colleague to death. The almost unprecedented counterattack has led to the ruling party's calls for stopping "partisan bickering" over national security issues. We hope the governing camp is right because we, like most Koreans, do not want to reaffirm the state spy agency was a pawn of the power elite ― yet again.
The NIS and conservative media say Korea is the only country ― out of 97 organizations in 35 countries that also bought and used the Italian hacking program ― that is making a big fuss of it. The reason is quite simple and all Koreans, including those in power, know it. The state spy agency has often served as an organ for a particular political group, like those in banana republics, rather than one for the entire nation and its security.
The NIS has only itself to blame. And the biggest victim is the nation's national security as these scandals deepen people's distrust of the state agency. If the NIS has the will to reform itself to be a "pure" intelligence organ, the ongoing scandal should be a blessing in disguise. This is why the government and its party must show "bipartisanship" in revealing, instead of hiding, the truth.
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