How infighting at spy agency led to sweeping leadership changes

This Nov. 1 photo shows Kim Kyou-hyun, director at the National Intelligence Service, attending an audit at the National Assembly in Seoul. Kim, a former diplomat who became the first chief of the spy agency under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, resigned, along with its first and second deputy directors, Sunday. Yonhap

After returning from an overseas trip on Sunday, the first thing President Yoon Suk Yeol did was to accept the resignations of the chief of the National Intelligence Agency (NIS) and his two deputies. Yet given the deep, long-running tensions between top agents over the past year, few believe their departure was voluntary.

Despite rising security threats from North Korea, which claims to have successfully launched its first reconnaissance satellite last week, Yoon took the risk of leaving the spy agency’s top post ― held by Director Kim Kyou-hyun ― empty for the time being. Meanwhile, Hong Jang-won and Hwang Won-jin, veteran NIS agents, replaced Kwon Chun-taek and Kim Soo-youn as first and second deputy directors, respectively.

Speaking to The Korea Times on Monday, insiders refused to disclose details of how the infighting and feud within the NIS started and apparently aggravated under Kim’s watch. But one said the bone of contention had nothing to do with ideological differences suspected by some.

Conflicts over personnel affairs are known to have largely caused and deepened the division among NIS leaders ― particularly between Kim, a former vice foreign minister who became the first NIS director under Yoon, and Kwon.

Their discord was first exposed when Cho Sang-joon, a former prosecutor known as a close associate of Yoon, stepped down as the head of planning and coordination at the agency in October 2022, just four months after assuming the post. This came a month after some 20 high-level agents left the organization.

That issue was immediately thrust into the media spotlight. For an organization that regards secrecy as a necessary virtue, this was an embarrassment for the director. After a while, however, his leadership appeared to stabilize ― but not for long.

In June, the appointments of top agents, a list approved by Kim and Yoon, were revoked due to some of the “problematic” officials included. This put the director back in a bind. There was speculation that a former NIS agent close to Kim exerted significant influence over the promotion process.

“Although it is difficult to a get a full picture of what was going on within the NIS because of its secretive nature, it looks bad that its personnel affairs keep appearing in media reports,” Ma Sang-yoon, a professor of political science at the Catholic University of Korea, said.

Speaking to reporters, Rep. Park Seong-jun, a spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, expressed concern over the leadership void at the NIS as North Korea ratchets up tensions near the inter-Korean border, vowing to dispatch more soldiers and new weapons to the area. Pyongyang made the decision after declaring the termination of a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement in response to Seoul’s partial suspension of the accord.

“Void of intelligence would lead to void of security, which forces us to raise questions over why President Yoon is risking it,” he said.

The presidential office said in a statement that the director played a key role in repairing the tarnished reputation of the NIS and reinforcing its intelligence networks with allies and other friendly countries.

The office is now searching for a successor. Kim Sook, former first deputy director, and Kim Yong-hyun, head of the presidential security service, are known to be among the candidates under consideration. Meanwhile, Hong, the current first deputy director, will serve as acting director at the spy agency.