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A spy among us

A North Korean spy disguised as a defector gave lectures at military bases 50 times in the South, propagating North Korea’s political system. But the military apparently did nothing to stop her. A military officer in charge of troop information and education was won over by the spy and even cooperated in helping the enemy, North Korea.

We cannot think that the officer’s behavior is solely his responsibility. There must be a hole in our attitude toward national security.

The deterioration of the military is partly the fault of former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun and their administrations’ one-sided love for North Korea.

They overlooked the sacrifices of soldiers who died in battle in the Northern Limit Line on the Yellow Sea in June 2002, and also neglected their families. They were quiet about the North Korean Navy’s intrusion over the NLL and instead criticized the reporting process of the Korean Navy.

They neglected the fact that South and North Korea are facing down each other, but still tried to educate the South’s military that North Korea is not the main enemy.

This is why it has been so hard to instill a sense of alarm about the behavior of the North and its military.

Senior military officers should reflect on what has been happening. They should think over whether they neglected their duty by blaming the past governments.

The Defense Security Command is responsible for checking the military and protecting it from threatening forces. However, it did not detect the subversive activity of a spy deep among its ranks.

The police said it was unavoidable that the spy was allowed to use materials containing North Korean propaganda in her lectures at military bases for several months, but we don’t believe that the police were justified.

According to a survey, over 60 percent of soldiers polled said North Korea is not the enemy or a threat to national security but that it is a partner. Thirty-four percent of 250 freshmen cadets at Korea Military Academy in 2004 said the United States was the main enemy.

The government should revamp education about national security. Recently, military educational institutions, including the KMA, changed their curriculums to strengthen English and information technology education in preparation for possible future wars and military operations. These actions are of course important but what is more urgent is to have a clear sense of the threat that the North Korean military poses.