Secret Service agent leaked secrets: prosecutors

A former senior official in the Presidential Security Service has been arrested on charges of selling information about defenses for the president to a business that wanted to sell equipment to the service, the prosecution and the Blue House said yesterday.

The Blue House downplayed the case yesterday, saying the leaked information wasn’t even confidential.

The Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday a 53-year-old former official of the Presidential Security Service, surnamed Lee, has been arrested and questioned on charges of receiving bribes from a communications device manufacturer in return for using his influence to help the firm’s bid on a contract with the service.

Prosecutors said Lee met with the company’s CEO and the research head in 2008 and agreed to use his influence. Lee allegedly received about 25 million won ($22,208) on two occasions in 2008 and 2009, the prosecution said.

After receiving the cash, Lee violated security protocols and gave the company a document about an aerial defense operation plan against unmanned aircraft in April 2009, the prosecution said.

The Presidential Security Service was not aware of the leak until the prosecution launched its investigation in December. Lee retired from the service in November.

A top Blue House official tried to downplay the significance of the case.

“Lee provided the company with a proposal on the aerial defense system,” the official said. “It was just a proposal and not confidential. The information is even posted on the Defense Acquisition Program Administration’s Internet page.”

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