(Seoul) South Korea’s military is investigating a possible leak of highly sensitive information that media reports say could identify Seoul intelligence agents spying on North Korea, the defense ministry said in a statement Saturday.
The Korea Defense Intelligence Command, a secretive branch of the South Korean military, discovered a month ago that classified information, including personal data of its agents stationed overseas, had been leaked, Seoul’s Yonhap news agency wrote.
Officials have since “seen indications” that the information may be in the hands of North Korea, according to Yonhap.
Reacting to the press reports, the South Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that “military authorities are currently investigating the matter,” without confirming the details published by Yonhap.
The military intends to deal with the case “severely, in accordance with laws and regulations, based on the results of the investigation,” the ministry added.
On Thursday, the United States, Britain and South Korea issued a joint warning of a global cyber “espionage campaign” by North Korean hackers aimed at stealing classified military secrets to advance their banned nuclear weapons program.
The leaked information reportedly includes details of South Korean agents posing as diplomats overseas, as well as undercover agents, some of whom have even returned home for fear of their identities being revealed, according to Yonhap.
The news agency also claims that South Korean authorities are investigating a civilian official working at the military intelligence directorate who had classified information stored on his personal computer. However, the official reportedly claimed that his computer was hacked.