hankyoreh

along with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The NIS claimed on May 13 that Hyon had been executed on Apr. 30. Usually

News of the alleged purge of North Korean Minister of the People’s Armed Forces Hyon Yong-chol is putting the National Intelligence Service (NIS) under scrutiny.

Many are now asking whether the NIS may have called its own credibility into question as an intelligence organization by recklessly disclosing not only verified intelligence but also the circumstances under which that information was collected.

Many experts are now questioning the veracity of claims that Hyon was executed, noting the continued appearance of his face on North Korean television, even after his reported purge.

For now, the NIS is expressing confidence in its claims, leading to speculation it may have based them on testimony from high-ranking refugees or examination of satellite video footage.

Questions are also being raised about the agency’s reasons for going public with unverified information in the first place. Some are contending the NIS may be trying to redeem itself after previous faulty reporting earlier this month on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s alleged plans to attend a 70th anniversary commemorative event for Russia’s World War II victory in Moscow.

“The date is coming up very soon, so it appears quite likely that [Kim] will going to Russia,” NIS director Lee Byung-ho told the National Assembly on Apr. 29. In a humiliating blow to the intelligence agency, North Korea announced just a day later that he would not be attending.

Sources said Lee has implemented a policy of sharing as much definite intelligence on North Korea as possible to boost the NIS’s reputation since taking the position in March.

Another factor may be an attempt to block recent steps toward more conciliatory policies from the Ministry of Unification and elsewhere in the administration.

“The upshot of this is that sensationalistic reporting based on the NIS’s announcement has had a negative impact on the Park Geun-hye’s administration’s conciliatory policies toward the North, which weren‘t that much to begin with,” said one North Korea expert on condition of anonymity.

By Kim Oi-hyun, staff reporter