Intelligence command to be audited over leak revealing details of Korea's overseas agents
Published: 29 Apr. 2025, 17:08
![Logos of the Korea Defense Intelligence Command, left, and the Defense Counterintelligence Command [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/04/29/16b2ebf5-d843-44c5-8db4-e91d1c62ba40.jpg)
Logos of the Korea Defense Intelligence Command, left, and the Defense Counterintelligence Command [JOONGANG ILBO]
The Ministry of National Defense has decided to conduct an external audit of the Korea Defense Intelligence Command for the first time in eight years following a leak revealing the personal information of its overseas black agents.
The revision of the related directive allows the Defense Counterintelligence Command to audit the intelligence command biennially, as was done before 2018.
"We completed a review of the draft amendment to the National Defense Security Directive by December last year, which is currently undergoing legal review," the Defense Intelligence Agency said Tuesday — in a response submitted to conservative People Power Party Rep. Kang Dae-sik, a member of the National Assembly National Defense Committee.
"Based on the revised directive, this year's security audits of the Defense Intelligence Command and the Defense Security Agency (DSA) — often referred to as the 777 Command — both directly under the Ministry of National Defense, will be overseen by the Defense Counterintelligence Command."
The amendment is expected to go into effect as early as early next month after the legal review is completed.
According to the amendment, the Korea Defense Intelligence Command will receive external audits from the Defense Counterintelligence Command every two years in addition to the annual audit by the Defense Intelligence Agency.
The Korea Defense Intelligence Command is expected to undergo an external audit from the counterintelligence unit in the second half of this year, marking the first such audit since 2017.
The amendment also mandates that the Drone Operations Command, launched in June 2023 under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, and the ROK Strategic Command, launched in October 2024, will each undergo an annual audit from the Defense Counterintelligence Command.
Previously, under the Moon Jae-in administration, the Defense Security Command, the predecessor of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, was disbanded and reformed into the Defense Security Support Command in September 2018 following the controversy over its martial law documents.
During this reorganization, the scope of the Defense Security Support Command's audits was reduced. Since then, the Korea Defense Intelligence Command and the 777 Command have only been audited internally by the Defense Intelligence Agency.
![Defense Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung testifies at the Constitutional Court on Feb. 4. [CONSTITUTIONAL COURT]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/04/29/3daa3da9-f43d-4da1-8dfb-5c05634262a8.jpg)
Defense Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung testifies at the Constitutional Court on Feb. 4. [CONSTITUTIONAL COURT]
Because of this, critics have argued that the failure to detect early the massive leak of sensitive military secrets by a civilian employee of the Korea Defense Intelligence Command, identified by the surname Chun, early last year may have resulted from the lack of external audits.
Chun was found guilty at the first trial of military court on charges of violating the Military Criminal Act and of accepting bribes. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, fined 1.2 billion won ($834,400) and ordered to forfeit around 162 million won.
The legal community noted that it was unusual for the court to sentence him to 20 years in prison for general espionage instead of espionage for an enemy state, which was seen as reflecting the court’s view of the seriousness of Chun's crimes.
The Defense Counterintelligence Command, which led the initial investigation, initially determined that the personal information of the black agents leaked by Chun to a Chinese individual had likely been passed to North Korea. However, the military prosecution concluded that it would be difficult to legally prove the Chinese individual’s ties to North Korea, and ultimately charged Chun only with general espionage.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY LEE YU-JUNG, LEE KEUN-PYUNG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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