By Kang Seung-woo
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has strongly denied allegations that spyware purchased by one of its officers from an Italian firm in 2012 was used to conduct illegal surveillance on civilians.
NIS chief Lee Byung-ho explained to lawmakers, Monday, about the purpose of the program and how it operated, but opposition parties still claim that many questions still remain unanswered.
Rather, Lee’s explanations have spawned fresh allegations. The parties are demanding that the spy agency submit all related data to make the public understand, but it said that it will not ― and cannot ― do so, citing possible risks to national security.
Here are some of the questions that remain about the agency’s activities.
The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) claims the role of the NIS officer, who committed suicide after deleting data on the use of the spyware, remains unclear. The NIS said the employee, surnamed Lim, purchased and operated the Remote Control System (RCS) technology.
“The NIS claims that Lim was the only person who operated the program,” Rep. You Seung-hee of the NPAD said during a party meeting on Wednesday. “However, there are suspicions that he executed spying on selected targets after receiving orders and reported the results to those in a higher echelon.”
On Monday, the NIS said it had retrieved data that Lim deleted on a total of 51 cases and not all were related to monitoring people ― 10 were about anti-North Korea and anti-terrorism activities, 10 about failed operations and 31, local testing.
If that is correct, then why did Lim delete the data and kill himself?
“No one in the NIS gave convincing explanations on why he committed suicide,” said Rep. Shin Kyoung-min of the NPAD.
Ahn Cheol-soo, another NPAD lawmaker, said, “It does not make sense that the employee killed himself after deleting data that were restorable and irrelevant to illegal surveillance.”
In addition, the uncovered local testing runs counter to the NIS’ claim that it never used the spyware locally.
Whether the deceased employee had the authority to delete data is also creating a stir.
According to the NIS, Lim was unauthorized to delete the data, using an agency computer one day before his suicide on July 18 and NPAD lawmakers speculated that a higher-ranking official may have been involved in the case.
In the face of this, the NIS said that agency computers enable its employees to access its data.
However, this explanation has spawned another controversy that the nation’s intelligence organization has a porous security system that can be accessed by any employee using an agency computer.
A local daily reported Wednesday that a total of five NIS employees, including Lim, engaged in the handling of the RCS program, citing e-mails that the NIS sent to the Italian company.
Commenting on the report, Rep. Lee Cheol-woo of the ruling Saenuri Party, said in a party meeting that a team of the NIS is usually comprised of four to five and Lim was in charge of the RCS and the remainder only assisted in testing.
In response to the NPAD’s claim last week that the NIS attempted to eavesdrop on three smartphones using services provided by SK Telecom, the NIS said it was just testing, adding that the smartphones were confirmed as belonging to the NIS and were used for a test.
However, it failed to submit data to back up its explanation, the NPAD said.
“The spy agency’s explanations cannot prove why Lim deleted data and took his life,” NPAD floor leader Lee Jong-kul said, urging the NIS to submit relevant data.
However, Rep. Won Yoo-chul, Lee’s Saenuri counterpart, said, “What the opposition party demands is putting the nation’s security and the people’s safety in danger.”