Today on The Korea Times Podcast: Korea joins the United States and Japan in an intelligence sharing agreement and the ministry may pardon jailed tycoons to boost the economy. Plus Seoul remains on high alert after nuclear reactor hacks and police hunt down a murder suspect in Incheon.
South Korea, the United States, and Japan will agree on Monday to share military intelligence on North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, according to the Ministry of National Defense.Despite some built-in limitations, the pact will be the first of its kind for Seoul.
"The arrangement does not mean direct sharing with Japan. We will give our intelligence first to the U.S. and the tips will then be shared with Japan upon our approval, and vice versa," a ministry official said.
Jailed tycoons may get paroled
Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung and Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan are advocating for the early release of business tycoons from prison.The two said have said that since the economy is in poor shape, imprisoned business leaders should be pardoned to help boost the economy.
Will it happen? Last week, Cheong Wa Dae said it is up to the Ministry of Justice, which has already voiced support of the measure.
The rationale for this extreme measure is that the organizations they left behind lack strong enough leadership to expand investments and grow their respective businesses.
Gov't on high alert over reactor hacking
Officials are bracing for the worst case scenario of a stoppage of three reactors ㅡ two in the Gori Nuclear Plant in Busan and one in the Wolsong Plant in Gyeongju, South Gyeongsang Province ㅡ which the hacker has warned they would "sabotage" unless the government stopped their operations on Christmas.
Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said, “We don't rule out the possibility that North Korea is behind the incident.Prosecutors and the authorities believe the hacker used foreign sites, although the investigation is still underway.”
"An IP address of the suspected hacker was traced to the Chinese city of Shenyang. Shenyang is home to cyber experts dispatched by the North Korean authorities," said a senior prosecutor familiar with the case.
Police are searching for a murder suspect in the death of an elderly woman, whose body was found in a travel bag.The Incheon Namdong Police Station distributed wanted posters Friday, with a picture of the suspect, Jung Hyung-geun.
Jung allegedly stabbed the victim, surnamed Jeon, in the side and the neck with a sharp object at least five times on Dec. 20. The body was found inside the travel bag two days later in a parking lot near Jung’s house.
Police named Jung as a suspect after securing surveillance camera footage from the parking lot which recorded Jung carrying the bag, and collecting blood-stained pants and gloves from his house.
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