hankyoreh

Aug. 25. (Photo by Kim Tae-hyoung)

By Noh Hyun-woong　

Prosecutors and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) arrested and indicted five people implicated in the Mount Wangjae espionage case, charging them with forming and operating an underground party under North Korean orders.

The NIS and the first public security division of the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office announced Thursday that five people had been arrested and indicted on charges of espionage according to the National Security Act for reporting on the South Korean political situation and military intelligence under orders from Bureau 225 of North Korea’s Workers’ Party of Korea and carrying out infiltrations and other operations within the central political framework. Among those arrested were the organization’s 48-year-old main officer, a 46-year-old local official in Incheon, and a 48-year-old local official in Seoul, respectively identified by the surnamed Kim, Lim, and Lee.

Prosecutors said that after being recruited by North Korea in the early 1990s, Kim established an underground organization called Mount Wangjae, bringing in younger activists from Jusapa, a faction that espoused Kim Il-sung’s juche ideology, self-reliance or self-dependence, and engaged in espionage activities for the next decade or so, primarily in Seoul and Incheon.

The investigation found that Kim met personally in August 1993 with then North Korean leader Kim Il-sung and received orders to “establish a local leadership for a South Choson, Korea, revolution,” which were subsequently carried out. Prosecutors are charging that the individuals in question attempted to create disorder in the domestic political situation by putting Lee to work as secretary for a leading politician, as well as to recruit progressive politicians, including a district office head in the Incheon area.

Prosecutors said that a wide-ranging search and seizure effort secured evidence including 28 written orders from Bureau 225, 82 reports to North Korea by Mount Wangjae, and 230 other communication documents.

Prosecutors discovered instructions for operations aimed at grand progressive and reformist unity among the North Korean orders, which is expected to cause political controversy.

Regarding the prosecutors’ announcement, the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) said the prosecutors’ decision to leak the investigation content at a time when progressive party integration efforts are in their final stages appeared to have the aim of disrupting unity among progressives.

“They are painting the false picture that opposition party unity is taking place under [North Korean] orders,” the party said.

The New Progressive Party (NPP) said it was impossible to trust the prosecutors’ announcement completely because it was an “indiscriminate public security case” and that “the entire case appears to be politically motivated.”

Indeed, the portrait of Mount Wangjae activities painted by prosecutors comes merely from the documents exchanged. Currently, a total of 10 people have been identified as members of the organization, including the five people arrested as well as five others who are under investigation but have not been detained. While a report to North Korea stated, “The organizational capacity that can be motivated in the event of emergency is around 200 people,” even this is merely an assertion. The size of the organization falls well short of being able to execute plans successfully.

But a prosecution official said, “We have photographs showing them actually traveling to places where they were instructed to go in a North Korean order to fight against the United States”

“We do not believe the content of the report to be an exaggeration,” the official added.

The “military intelligence” they are purported to have intercepted and delivered is not confidential information. The U.S. military field manuals can be accessed on the homepage of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), and a collection of satellite photos of South Korea is available for purchase for 150 thousand won ($138).

But observers say such prosecutions are likely to continue as long as a Supreme Court precedent exists stating that even the leaking of materials that are already known or can easily be obtained constitutes a violation of the National Security Act “when there is a clear and present danger of advantage to an anti-state group and deleterious consequences for the Republic of Korea in the event of a leak.”

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