Military spy gave away U.S.-Korean war blueprint

Top military secrets, including a U.S.-South Korea war plan to counter a North Korean invasion, may have been given to Pyongyang by a South Korean Army major general spy, according to an investigation by military authorities.

The major general, only identified as Kim, was being questioned by military authorities on charges of providing top confidential information to North Korea. The Defense Security Command asked the military’s General Court Martial to issue a detention warrant against Kim on Tuesday.

Among the information that Kim may have leaked was parts of “Operational Plan 5027,” the detailed battle plan of the U.S.-South Korea Combined Forces Command to defend the South from a “second Korean war.” The plan, which maps out how the U.S. and South Korean forces would fight against the North, is modified every one or two years since the first version was created in 1974. Kim is suspected of leaking the top secrets from 2005 to 2007.

The plan is reportedly in five phases, starting with a speedy augmentation of U.S. forces in Korea, strategic bombing of North Korean targets, operations to march on the North, establishing military control over the North and eventually the unification of the two Koreas.

According to sources, Kim leaked the information to a former South Korean agent, Park Chae-seo, who was recently arrested on charges of giving confidential security information to North Korea. The 56-year-old used to work for the Agency for National Security Planning, the predecessor of the National Intelligence Service, and he spied on North Korea under the code name Black Venus until his cover was blown in 1998.

Kim and Park are alumni of the same military academy and were close friends, sources said.

Kim told investigators he did not know Park was working for North Korea, a military official said. He denies giving Park any military secrets beyond what was publicly available.

A government official told the JoongAng Ilbo that the investigation will likely expand because more suspects were linked to the case. “Aside from Park and Kim, there were at least five people involved,” the source said. “The authorities are looking closely at them and some will soon face a formal probe.”

None of the additional suspects were in active service, the official said, but were all related to the military directly or indirectly, hinting at a possibility of a retired military officer’s involvement.

Another government official confirmed the complexity and magnitude of the case. “It’s not as simple as we first thought,” he said.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office and the National Intelligence Service took custody of Park last week for providing military secrets to North Korea in return for money from 2005 to 2007.

By Ser Myo-ja, Namkoong Wook [myoja@joongang.co.kr]