North Korea reaps military secrets from South Korean mayhem

Upheaval in Seoul delivers intelligence windfall to all who watched—including Kim Jong Un

Soldiers tried to enter the National Assembly building in Seoul after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law. Picture: Jung Yeon-je / AFP

The events that triggered Friday’s ouster of South Korea’s president split the nation and paralyzed state affairs—while delivering a jackpot of military secrets to the country’s archnemesis: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The short-lived implementation of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial-law decree in early December, then weeks of investigative hearings into the matter—livestreamed to the public—added up to what South Korean military officials, lawmakers and security experts described as an unprecedented intelligence leak.

Sitting far from the action in Pyongyang, Kim could learn the identities of intelligence agents, the inoperable state of Seoul’s spy drones and even the precise location of South Korea’s war-planning operations room, down to the exact floor of the building.

“The North Koreans are saying ‘thank you’ right now,” said Park Choong-kwon, a former ballistic-missile researcher in North Korea who defected and is now a South Korean legislator for the ruling conservatives. “They send spies to find out information like this.”

When Yoon declared martial law on December 3, saying the country was at risk of falling prey to North Korean “communist forces,” elite South Korean special forces deployed as they would in a North Korean invasion.

South Korea Army chief General Park An-su answers questions during an emergency session of the parliamentary defence committee on December 10. Picture: Jung Yeon-je / AFP

Martial law was rescinded within hours, but Pyongyang had already been shown how South Korea might initially respond in an invasion.

In the days of disarray that followed, the South Korean public demanded an explanation about the decree and the military’s actions. Opposition lawmakers quickly convened public hearings where the rush for answers and the political skirmish took precedence over the need to protect military intelligence.

In one exchange, broadcast live on national television, a senior army official revealed the location of a war-planning command and control room. South Korea’s vice defense minister hurriedly intervened and said, “These are key military facilities. We must stop discussing.”

One opposition lawmaker held up photos of intelligence officers who went to the country’s election commission on the night of martial law. A commander raised his hand. “It pains me to see the invaluable assets we built over time being carelessly exposed,” he said.

In another hearing, a lawmaker revealed the number of South Korean-made S-Bat reconnaissance drones that the country’s military possessed and disclosed that they were deemed unfit for combat.

“Such information is collected over a long period of time and requires cross-checking,” said Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. “Yet the intel was handed to North Korea on a silver platter.”

The South Korean Defense Ministry’s spokesman said in December that in the process of “thoroughly explaining the facts,” some “inappropriate disclosures” were made during the hearings. The ministry declined to comment further.

South Korean military deployments during the brief period of martial law were also revealing. South Korea’s 707th Special Mission Group arrived at the National Assembly on the night of Dec. 3 by helicopter, assigned to block lawmakers from entering parliament and voting against the president’s decree.

The elite special forces unit is primarily tasked with counterterrorism and overseas missions, but in wartime would undertake classified missions such as targeting North Korea’s leadership.

The unit could be seen that night equipped with assault rifles and high-end four-eye night-vision goggles. Pyongyang would be surprised to see such equipment widely supplied to Seoul’s special forces, said Park, the Ewha professor.

South Korean forces deployed to the National Assembly appeared cautious, including one soldier who was seen apologizing to citizens who confronted them. North Korea may have gleaned that the South’s soldiers displayed indecision amid chaos, said Park, the lawmaker.

Pyongyang can derive real advantages from the disclosures. Knowing the locations of South Korean military sites could help North Korea identify what to target first and plan infiltration routes. Seeing wartime equipment on display could allow Pyongyang to reassess how it supplies its own forces. And judging South Korean forces as indecisive, said Park, could lead Pyongyang to see an advantage in trying to sow confusion in the event of an actual conflict.

North Korea largely stayed quiet in early December as its neighbor dealt with fallout from the martial-law declaration, even halting launches of trash-filled balloons.

In its first statement about a week later, North Korean state media reported that South Korea had been thrown into “chaos and pandemonium,” an indication that Kim, the North Korean dictator, has also reaped political gains from the upheaval.

The Kim regime has its own intelligence about South Korean facilities and equipment, said Yang Uk, a military expert at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank in Seoul. Hacking into South Korean state institutions and other spycraft has been a key part of North Korea’s long-running preparation for a military conflict with its neighbor.

However, Yang said, “There is a clear difference between North Korea suspecting something and South Korea confirming it.”

Wall Street Journal