Snowden leaks: S. Korea a member of Sigint Seniors Pacific

Posted on : 2015-11-10 16:54 KST Modified on : 2015-11-10 16:54 KST
Documents provide first evidence of S. Korea taking part in Pacific counterpart of “Five Eyes” alliance
The NSA’s Sigint Seniors Pacific intelligence alliance
The NSA’s Sigint Seniors Pacific intelligence alliance

One of the details in the documents released by Edward Snowden concerned South Korea’s participation in Sigint Seniors Pacific (SSPAC), a signals intelligence alliance formed by the US National Security Agency (NSA) with countries in the Pacific region to go along with its so-called “Five Eyes” alliance with four other Anglophone countries. No specifics had previously been available on South Korea’s role in regional intelligence activities spearheaded by the NSA.

A Snowden document released for the first time in March by New Zealand’s local press, titled “National Security Agency Relationship with New Zealand,” notes that South Korea was part of SSPAC along with the Five Eyes -- the US, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand -- and a number of other Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, and India, as well as France. Indeed, one New Zealand news outlet referred to the group as the “Ten Eyes.” The name “Seniors Pacific” alludes to its status as a framework for high-level sigint discussions in the region. France was included; major Asian countries like China and Japan were not. According to multiple foreign affairs and national security experts, France was likely brought on board because of its Pacific territories such as New Caledonia, while China was left out because it is the target of US intelligence collection. Japan, which is close to the US, may have been passed over because of its past record of initiating hostilities in the Second World War.

From the documents, the Pacific alliance appears to have been set up by the US, with South Korea playing the role of low-level partner. The purpose of SSPAC appears to have been as a setting for senior intelligence officials with interests in the region to meet and exchange signals intelligence or track activities. The documents also state that New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) served as a chair for the information exchange framework for the past two years, “garner[ing] unprecedented high levels of participation.”

The reference to this US- and New Zealand-led group as the “Ten Eyes” does not appear farfetched. Indeed, documents also refer to New Zealand’s actions to reinforce the relationship between SSPAC and SSEUR (SIGINT Seniors Europe).

“The Ten Eyes may be a group of ten countries with common interests in the Pacific, but it’s still not clear whether they were actively involved in intelligence exchange,” Yonsei University professor Moon Chung-in told the Hankyoreh.

“These were senior-level talks, so they may have only been trying to determine problems or trends associated with collecting and analyzing signals intelligence,” Moon suggested.

This interpretation is supported by an incident in which South Korea played an unexpected and undefined role cooperating with the Five Eyes in the Pacific region. In 2011, a Korean-Australian public servant surnamed Kim was tried on charges of contacting an NIS employee while impersonating an adviser at the South Korean embassy in Australia, and then failing to report it. A copy of an Australian court ruling against Kim provided by freelance journalist Philip Dorling notes that the director of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) -- Australia’s counterpart to the NIS -- said in an Oct. 2012 Supreme Court hearing that the national interests of Australia and South Korea coincided on a number of security-related issues, adding that they had maintained an exchange relationship for over 30 years and were cooperating for their mutual interests.

In November 2013, allegations were made about South Korean involvement in Australian monitoring of Indonesia. The Indonesian government responded proactively to the charges, summoning the South Korean ambassador in Jakarta.

“I think the role belonged to Singapore, not South Korea,” said the ambassador at the time, Kim Young-sun, in a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh.

“South Korea was mentioned in some of the articles, but we were able to clear it up because [the allegations of cooperation in monitoring] were not true,” Kim added.

Meanwhile, Luke Harding, a reporter with The Guardian newspaper who covered the Snowden documents, detailed a 2012 visit to the NSA‘s Hawaii branch by the NIS director in his March 2014 book “The Snowden Files.”

“The NSA coordinated its SIGINT work with other allies in the region. Visitors to the subterranean complex [of the NSA’s Hawaii branch] included the new defence chief of South Korea’s security agency, the incoming boss of Thailand’s national security bureau and delegations from Tokyo,” the book states.

In an email exchange with the Hankyoreh, Harding said the information was taken from an internal NSA newsletter included in the Snowden documents.

The NIS said it could “not confirm” when asked by the Hankyoreh about the report.

By Choi Hyun-june and Ko Na-mu, staff reporters

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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