hankyoreh

who recently committed suicide

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) agent, surnamed Lim, 45, who ended his life on July 18, was in charge of implementing and operating Remote Control System (RCS), the hacking software developed by Italian firm Hacking Team. Before committing suicide, Lim deleted relevant records on the NIS computer network, his suicide note said.

Made public on July 19, Lim‘s suicide note said, “There actually was no surveillance of the South Korean public or the election.” But given the suspicious circumstances - including the deletion of related files and the suicide of someone who was not guilty of any illegal activity - the opposition party is calling on the NIS to provide an adequate explanation and to carry out a thorough investigation.

The suicide note, which Lim addressed to the agency director, vice director, and bureau chief, said, “My excessive ambition at work appears to have caused today’s situation.”

After receiving the consent of Lim’s bereaved family, the Yongin East Police Department in Gyeonggi Province, which is currently investigating Lim’s death, released the suicide note to the public.

“Deciding that the prestige of the NIS was more important than the impact on the outside, I deleted material that could cause misunderstandings about operations against terrorists and against North Korea. This was a mistake caused by my faulty judgment,” Lim added in the letter.

In this section, the phrases “against North Korea” and “that could cause misunderstandings” are inserted into the original sentence with carets.

The suicide note that was released is one of three pages of A4 paper that were discovered in the passenger‘s seat of the car in which Lim died. The two pages that he wrote for his family were not made public.

Lim’s body was found in his Chevrolet Spark on a hill in Hwasan Village, Yongin around noon on Saturday.

Lim’s suicide note may have been made public, but the question of why a cyber security expert with 20 years of experience would end his life remains unanswered. Since Lim mentioned deleting “material that could cause misunderstandings” in his suicide note, there is growing suspicion about what was deleted - and why.

In the note, Lim wrote, “There actually was no surveillance of the South Korean public [. . .]. There is no part of my actions that you should be concerned about.” But this “hard-working and dutiful employee,” as he described himself, ended his life without providing a clear reason why.

During questioning by the police on July 20, Lim’s wife said, “My husband had been having a hard time because of his work recently.”

This suggests that Lim was under considerable pressure - including a possible internal investigation - after the NIS‘s purchase of RCS from Hacking Team was disclosed and allegations were raised about the agency spying on the public,.

The NIS made its first official mention of the team running the program - including Lim - before the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee on July 14, after the case began to expand. The program was “not for domestic use, but for use against North Korea,” the NIS said, explaining that “the agent in charge is a top expert in the field.”

Lim likely felt pressure about the work that he was doing being made public. On July 17, the NIS took the unusual step of releasing a long statement in which it promised to disclose records of how it was using the hacking program to ruling and opposition lawmakers on the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee.

Some parts in Lim’s suicide note - including the statement that “My excessive ambition at work appears to have caused today‘s situation” - are tinged with guilt. Lee also wrote, “Deciding that the prestige of the NIS was more important than the impact on the outside, I deleted material that could cause misunderstandings about operations against terrorists and against North Korea.”

Lim reportedly deleted the files in question that had been saved on his computer at the NIS during the four days after the allegations of spying were raised. This was before the NIS announced that it would make the RCS usage records public.

It could be that when the ruling and opposition parties announced their plan to conduct a field inspection of the NIS, Lim hastily deleted the files, only to face severe discipline after the NIS announced it would be making the program records public.

“Since the NIS said it would make the files public after Lim deleted them, he must have been under pressure,” Rep. Lee Cheol-woo, a Saenuri Party (NFP) lawmaker and member of the Intelligence Committee said during a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh on Sunday.

There are also questions about what files Lim deleted. Considering that Lim mentioned “material that could cause misunderstandings,” there are suspicions that the NIS was engaged in activity at some remove from its ostensible purpose of fighting terror and North Korea.

The NIS thinks that it will be possible to restore the files, but others doubt that a cyber security expert would have been so sloppy.

By Hong Yong-deok, south Gyeonggi correspondent

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