2024-07-31 01:20:52
Democracy: “Distortion of facts, obvious lies”
Regarding the incident where a military officer from the Defense Intelligence Command (DIC) leaked confidential information, including information on “black agents” operating overseas and the status of all unit members, to a Chinese compatriot (ethnic Korean), Han Dong-hoon, the People Power Party representative, snapped, “Who and why blocked the revision of the Espionage Act to change ‘enemy country’ to ‘foreign country’?”
On the 30th, a representative said on his Facebook page, “A Chinese citizen and other compatriots leaked confidential files from South Korean intelligence agents. Absurdly, they cannot be punished for espionage in our country. This is because our country’s espionage law only targets North Korea, our enemy.”
According to the current National Security Act, criminal punishment under the espionage law is only possible when national secrets are handed over to the enemy country of ‘North Korea’. In this case, where the relevant secrets were handed over to a ‘Korean-Chinese’ national, it is highly likely that the person involved will not be punished under the espionage law.
One representative said, “Should that (leakage of intelligence agency secrets) be punished as espionage, a felony? Or should it not be punished?” and emphasized, “If this had happened in China, the U.S., Germany, France, or another country, they would naturally be punished as espionage or a more serious crime.”
One representative mentioned that four amendments to the Espionage Act were proposed in the 21st National Assembly to change the enemy country from North Korea to a foreign country, and pointed out that “three of them were proposed by the Democratic Party at the time. However, during the actual deliberation process of the bills, the Democratic Party applied the brakes and they were scrapped.”
Representative Han introduced the amendment to the criminal law proposed by Representative Joo Ho-young after the opening of the 22nd National Assembly. According to the amendment, the basis for punishment was established so that those who commit espionage against not only North Korea but also foreign countries, individuals, and organizations can be sentenced to imprisonment for more than five years.
One representative said, “In the rapidly changing world order, foreign countries and enemy countries are merely changeable and relative distinctions,” and urged, “Let’s revise the Espionage Act this time to create a minimum legal safety net to protect our people and national interests.”
The Democratic Party of Korea immediately protested. The Democratic Party’s policy committee issued a statement, stating, “At the time, the Democratic Party was reviewing the bill on the premise of reaching an agreement with the Ministry of Justice and the Court Administration and reconciling differences of opinion, so it is groundless to claim that we opposed the revision of the relevant law.”
He added, “This is a distortion of the facts, as if the Democratic Party’s opposition to the revision of the law made it difficult to punish those responsible for this incident,” adding, “This is an obvious lie.”
Military prosecutors recently requested an arrest warrant for A, a military employee of the Intelligence Service, on charges of leaking up to thousands of pieces of information related to national secrets.
Person A is known to have been a former military officer and worked in the overseas operations department of the Intelligence Service after his discharge. He is suspected of printing out several Level 2 and 3 confidential documents, including a list of black agents who are operating overseas under false pretenses and a status of all unit members, and sending them in file form to ethnic Koreans. It is known that the files contain detailed information on black agents. It is known that many of the agents whose information was leaked were engaged in intelligence work related to North Korea. It is reported that some black agents operating in China and other countries returned to Korea immediately after the incident was reported.
The Central Military Court of the Ministry of National Defense issued an arrest warrant for Mr. A on this day.
Reporter Choi Jae-ho, Donga.com [email protected]
-
- great
- 0dog
-
- I’m so sad
- 0dog
-
- I’m angry
- 0dog
-
- I recommend it
- dog
Hot news right now
2024-07-31 01:20:52