Reports about North Korea shooting a South Korean official may have exposed intelligence gathering

[soryang]

Reports about North Korea shooting a South Korean official may have exposed intelligence gathering techniques
CNN By Yoonjung Seo and James Griffiths, CNN

Updated 1:41 AM ET, Mon October 5, 2020

...North Korean soldiers shot and killed a South Korean fisheries department employee in the waters south of the North Korean-controlled Yeonpyeong Islands on September 22. In a letter to President Moon Jae-in, Kim apologized for this "misfortune" and said the incident occurred after the man did not comply with a soldier's demands to identify himself and subsequent warning shots.

South Korea's Ministry of National Defense first announced the shooting and gave a timeline of events, but most specific details were reported in the press thanks to information lawmakers leaked to journalists from intelligence briefings given by military and security officials. This is fairly routine, but the amount of detail the press was given -- essentially a play-by-play of the entire incident -- may have exposed just how that intelligence was gathered.

In one example, People Power's Joo Ho-young, a leading opposition lawmaker, told a radio broadcaster that details about the case he shared had been "verified through special intelligence" and were based not on "what the defense ministry judged for itself, but what it has heard accurately" through surveillance.

Military officials have since expressed frustration at how much lawmakers gave away on this case, fearing it may prompt Pyongyang to change codes or other communication methods that Seoul's intelligence services had previously succeeded in compromising...

More:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/05/asia/south-korea-north-korea-intelligence-intl-hnk/index.html

CNN tries to water down the responsibility of the conservative opposition lawmaker's leaks to the press. Assembly member Joo leaked the exact words sensitive intelligence sources intercepted in military communications in a bad faith attempt to discredit his own government's democratic administration.

The far right opposition, so called People Power Party, which had changed its name for the third time, in less than three years, is also known in South Korea by it's critics as the people's burden party.