N. Korean Agents Infiltrating the South
By: Administrative Account | Source: The Washington Times
November 21, 2003 10:57AM EST

    Communist infiltration
    North Korea's communist government is successfully exploiting the openness and democracy in the South by infiltrating spies and saboteurs, U.S. military officials in South Korea tell us.
    Both Koreas remain technically at war with only a truce holding back conflict. As a result, the infiltration of South Korea by North Korean agents has continued apace since the 1950s, according to an official.
    The official said the North Koreans initially sent teams of commandos in groups of up to 60 to land at night on South Korean shores and then enter society. South Korean military counterintelligence had a fair track record in hunting down the commandos. Then in the 1980s the North Koreans favored using small submarines to conduct infiltration operations in the South.
    But when South Korean society loosened up in the 1990s, the North began using different methods. "Now they're using agents with fake passports who are posing as tourists," the officer said. The agents are sent for intelligence-gathering work and also for assassination and sabotage missions in the event conflict starts up.
    Army Gen. Leon LaPorte, commander of U.S. forces in South Korea, said earlier this week in an interview that North Korea's 120,000 special-operations commando force is the largest in the world and is the key element in Pyongyang's "asymmetric" warfare strategy.
    Another major security problem is a result of the South's pro-North "sunshine" policy of taking a conciliatory approach toward Pyongyang. South Korean counterintelligence efforts against North Korean agents have decreased sharply. Fewer North Korean agents are being uncovered and those that are often get freed by the government.
    "We call it catch and release," a second senior officer said. This officer said some spies have been caught in the last few years but many are being missed.
    North Korean propaganda also has been given a huge boost by the sunshine policies. Once unthinkable, South Korean media now regularly feature pro-North Korean propaganda on both electronic and print outlets.
    "We'll see reports from KCNA [the official North Korean news agency] replayed on South Korean media shortly after they come out," the senior officer said.

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