A former college Reserve Officers’ Training Corps [ROTC] officer in his 30s
was arrested and charged for handing over confidential information and
conducting an illegal business with spies from the North’s General Bureau of
Reconnaissance.
According to Gyeonggi Provincial Police
Agency’s security investigation unit, former ROTC member, surnamed Chun, was
arrested for violating South Korea’s National Security Law on five counts: espionage,
conspiracy, special infiltration and escape, meeting, and communication.
Chun is currently being
charged for running illegal software programs, designed to collect cyber money
from online games, with North Korean spies and sharing the profits.
Additionally, he met with North Korean spies on five other occasions in China’s Shenyang and Dandong where he provided them with instructional
materials on how to electronically bid on private businesses, as well as IDs and
passwords to a website covering these methods.
Chun also allegedly received software from North Korean spies that circulates a malware program on South
Korea’s main websites at random.
Police officials explained that Chun was
originally involved with an illicit business dealing in software programs
when he discovered and began meeting with spies from North Korea’s General
Bureau of Reconnaissance, from whom he was able to import the same programs at
half the price he was paying domestically.
Chun asserted that he originally only made
contact with the spies for the programs, but later gave in to other demands
they made.
In a police investigation, Chun stated, “The
programs would function well and then suddenly stop working. When I would
contact the North to ask about this, they demanded other things in addition to
money. I have four children including twins. If I had just quit then, I
wouldn’t have been able to feed my children, so I couldn’t help it.”
The police have also disclosed that Chun
even made attempts to access the Settlement Support Center for North Korean
Refugees’ [Hanawon] defector list and the South Korean Public Procurement
Service’s server IP, but ultimately failed to do so.
South Korean authorities assume Chun to have several
accomplices and are still carrying out investigations into the matter.
