N. Korean Spies Exploit Asylum Loopholes
By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter
Defectors here suspect that quite a few North Korean secret agents are operating in South Korea after receiving asylum, saying that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) screening system has loopholes.
They said it was only by luck that the NIS identified two spies who arrived in Seoul early this year ― disguised as North Korean refugees ― on an assassination mission.
"It is true that the spy agency carries out an extensive background check on North Korean defectors when they arrive, often in the presence of their friends or neighbors who have already settled in South Korea," said Kim Shin-ok, head of the Pyongyang Art Troupe set up by former North Korean entertainers.
"But it is extremely difficult to find out whether they have come to spy if they had been recruited and trained in the previous six to 12 months, or if they had lived under a false identity even from before then, in the North," Kim added.
An official of the Association of North Korean Defectors (ANKD) also told the paper that the current screening scheme might not be sufficient to fully detect undercover agents from the tens of thousands of North Koreans crossing the border every year in search of freedom and better lives.
Of them, some 18,000 have settled in South Korea and more than 2,000 gained asylum in about 20 other countries, including the United States and Germany.
"When I arrived in South Korea with a group of other North Koreans, I was grilled for about one and a half months by the NIS," the official said. "The NIS refused asylum for two members of the group, claiming that they were not defectors but ethnic Koreans who had been living in China."
She said some Korean Chinese prepare for up to one year to pass the NIS screening as the Korean government provides settlement money, job training and other welfare benefits, such as medical care. Some have allegedly succeeded in settling in Korea with fake North Korean identities.
She contended that if they can crack the system, highly-trained North Korean spies can too.
"North Korean defectors suspect each other as they are unsure who are genuine asylum seekers, and who are spies," the ANKD official said. "I hope the South Korean authorities will conduct tighter screening and keep a close eye on those who act suspiciously."
The NIS, however, refutes the claims, saying it detects nearly all spies during questioning, which can last for up to three months under the current law.
Kim Myung-ho and Dong Myung-kwan, who confessed to coming to Seoul to assassinate Hwang Jang-yop, a former secretary of the North's ruling Workers' Party, have been the first publicized spies uncovered during NIS questioning.
A North Korean spy who came to Seoul in 2001 disguised as a Korean Chinese businesswoman was arrested in 2008 on charges of espionages after compromising South Korean military officers.
Sources said the government is considering doubling the NIS questioning period from 90 to 180 days.
간첩 망명 허점 이용
남한에 있는 탈북자들은 국가정보원의 심사과정이 허점이 있다면서 적지 않은 북한 비밀요원들이 망명을 허용 받은 후 남한에서 공작을 하고 있는 것으로 의심되고 있다고 밝혔다.
이들은 북한 탈북자로 위장 금년 초 서울에 온 두 명의 간첩이 암살 지령을 받은게 확인 된 것은 운에 불과하다고 말했다.
김신옥 전 북한 연예인들이 설립한 평양예술공연단 단장은 “국정원이 여기에 도착한 탈북자들에 대한 광범위하게 배경을 체크하고 있는 것은 사실입니다. 그것도 종종 남한에 이미 정착한 그들의 친구나 이웃들의 입회하에서 한다”고 말했다.
김씨는 “그러나 6개월 내지 1년 동안 차출돼 훈련을 받는다거나 북에서 그 이전부터 가짜 신분으로 산 경우는 그들이 간첩행위를 하러 오는지 여부를 알아내기는 극히 어렵다”고 말했다.