4 Nations Intensify Snooping In Korea

There is a war of sorts going on in Seoul among intelligence agents from the four powers surrounding the nation.

The race began with the first inter-Korean summit in June 2000. It is intensifying in light of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's ongoing tour of Russia and his possible return visit to Seoul, intelligence officials said. They also warned that the Korean government should devise measures to prevent classified information from leaking as it apparently has done recently.

China, Japan and Russia have all increased their intelligence gathering recently, but the most active seeker of information pertaining to North Korea is the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. A spook shop dubbed Office of Regional Studies is located on the fifth floor of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. John R. Sano, who arrived in Seoul in 1999, leads the 50-strong team, which is divided into a politics and economy section and a military and security section.

A reliable source told the JoongAng Ilbo that the team had been strengthened since President George W. Bush came to power, assigned to gather information on North Korea's nuclear and missile development. The source said the team has rankled South Korea's National Intelligence Service by demanding to know whether North Korea is diverting money obtained through the Mount Kumgang tourism project to military use. The demand reportedly is intended to support the Bush administration's hard-line stance toward North Korea.

The South Korean government also finds itself in an uncomfortable position as the CIA repeatedly demands a one-on-one interview with Hwang Jang-yop, a senior official of the North Korean government who defected to South Korea in 1997. Seoul has been opposing Mr. Hwang's proposed visit to Washington.

A South Korean official said, "The law that is focused on prosecuting spies from the North cannot effectively counter intelligence gathering by foreign agents in Seoul." As it is now, only South Korean agents are victimized, he said.

by A Special Reporting Team