It emerged on the 11th that the Seoul police anti-corruption unit searched the National Intelligence Service (NIS) twice this year, in January and September (Yonhap, Dong-A Ilbo, Korea Economic Daily). The search is part of an investigation into suspicions that budget was improperly provided to the National Security Office in the presidential office under the Yoon Suk-yeol government. Hankyoreh reported it as an ‘illegal support allegation’ and KBS as an investigation into the budget provided to the National Security Office. The office of Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Kun-young says about 170 million won was spent in 50 payments; the suspect has not been named. The same day, the NIS said that intelligence cooperation with the U.S. is active in various areas and that the total amount of intelligence on North Korea the U.S. provides has not shrunk either (Yonhap, KBS, MBC, JoongAng Ilbo). Dong-A Ilbo asked whether distrust of NIS activity had grown, noting that the U.S. had pointed to counterintelligence as a standard of alliance.
Spending by an intelligence agency is hard to examine from the outside. Whether that money flowed to the president's staff organization decides whether the checks between powerful institutions worked. If the investigation confirms the charges, the debate over NIS reform and the blame on the previous government could ignite at once.
It does not touch daily life directly. But how an intelligence agency spends tax money is a concern for taxpayers. News on Korea–U.S. intelligence cooperation also bears on security judgments about North Korea.
The view that the budget use of a government intelligence agency must be under legal grounds and control, and that if there are suspicions, it is right to confirm them through investigation.
The view that investigations aimed at the previous government continue after a change of government. Until the charges are confirmed, it could turn into a political dispute.
All that is confirmed now is ‘two searches’. Until the charges, amounts and suspects emerge, it is hard to put weight on either side's claim. Today, see what police confirm from the seized materials and whether the presidential office makes a statement. The NIS explanation about the U.S. is a separate matter, so it is best not to read the two together.
Yonhap, Korea Economic Daily, Chosun Ilbo, Hankyoreh, KBS, MBC, JoongAng Ilbo, Dong-A Ilbo, on the 11th
Police search NIS twice over suspected budget support for Yoon Suk-yeol government's National Security Office
Police searched the National Intelligence Service (NIS) twice this year, in January and September; it emerged on the 11th. The aim is to investigate suspicions that budget was improperly provided to the National Security Office in the presidential office under the Yoon Suk-yeol government (Yonhap, Korea Economic Daily, Chosun Ilbo). The charges written on the warrant have not yet been made known. Hankyoreh called it an ‘illegal support allegation’, and KBS, in an exclusive, reported that investigators are looking into the budget provided to the National Security Office. A search and seizure is a compulsory investigation in which investigators, under a warrant issued by a court, take away documents and digital records. But the reports do not confirm what budget moved, in what amount, or who the suspect is. The National Security Office is the body that advises the president on diplomacy and security, and the NIS is the intelligence agency that gathers overseas intelligence and intelligence on North Korea and handles counterintelligence. The point is that the flow of money between the two bodies is the subject of the investigation. Most of the NIS budget is set in secret, and only the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee examines it, to a limited extent. So if this money flowed to the president's staff organization, the question becomes whether it got around the checks.
On the same 11th, the NIS also stated its position on relations with the U.S. It denied the view that sharing of intelligence on North Korea outside the area of North Korean missiles had been restricted, saying ‘the total amount of intelligence on North Korea the U.S. provides has not shrunk either’ (Yonhap, KBS, MBC, JoongAng Ilbo). Dong-A Ilbo raised the question of whether distrust of NIS activity had grown, noting that the U.S. had pointed to counterintelligence as a standard of alliance. There is not yet any ground to tie the two items into one case. One is a domestic investigation and the other is intelligence cooperation within the alliance. Intelligence on North Korea is central to Korea–U.S. cooperation, so the dispute over the amount shared could turn into a security issue, and because police under the current government are investigating events from the previous government, political interpretations can also split. Still, it looks as if the intelligence agency's credibility is being tested at home and abroad at once. Today, what to watch is whether police will summon officials after analyzing the seized materials, and how the NIS and the presidential office respond. It is the parliamentary audit period, so questions may come up in the Intelligence Committee.