Spying Allegations Hit Defense Ministry

A member of an advisory panel for the Ministry of National Defense made inquiries about eavesdropping technology to Italian tech firm Hacking Team (HT), a ministry official confirmed Monday.

The latest revelation adds to the speculation that the defense ministry may have attempted to buy spyware from the Italian firm through the advisor, indentified by his surname, Han.

This follows allegations that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) purchased the firm's spyware through Nanatech, a small Seoul-based firm.

The NIS acknowledged it purchased a program called Remote Control System (RCS), which can spy on PCs and smartphones, from Hacking Team in 2012. Suspicions have grown that the NIS spied on politicians and activists ahead of the presidential election that year.

According to e-mail exchanges with the Italian firm, Han introduced himself as a person tied to the Korean government that was studying technology similar to the company's product.

He added that the Korean government asked him to talk to Hacking Team because it did not want to expose itself.

Han is an expert on information and communications who is now teaching at a university in Seoul. He previously served as a brigade commander of the Defense Intelligence Command.

Regarding the controversy, Han told reporters that his contact with the firm was unrelated to the ministry.

Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said Tuesday, "Han is working as advisory member at the information area at the ministry, but his inquiries to HT did not have a specific correlation with the ministry. As far As I know, it was a personal...