The Intercept: S. Korea seen by US as possible intelligence threat

“United States SIGINT System January 2007 Strategic Mission List”, leaked by Edward Snowden to journalist Glenn Greenwald.

Leaked documents obtained by online publication show S. Korea listed among countries that could carry out espionage

By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent

The US National Security Agency (NSA) included South Korea on a list of countries it believes could conduct espionage activities against the American government, an online publication reported on Aug. 4.

Independent American online publication The Intercept said that this information was included in a secret document (United States SIGINT System January 2007 Strategic Mission List) that was provided by Edward Snowden, former CIA technical assistant.

In a section of the document titled “Countering Foreign Intelligence Threats,” the NSA stated that the countries that represent the greatest threat for “espionage/intelligence collection operations . . . directed against U.S. government, military, science & technology and Intelligence Community” are China, Russia, Cuba, Israel, Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, France, Venezuela, and South Korea.

(http://cryptome.org/2013/11/nsa-sigint-strategic-mission-2007.pdf)

Reports had confirmed that the NSA had chosen South Korea’s diplomatic and military policy, intelligence organizations, and strategic technology as key targets for intelligence collection in 2007. This shows that the US not only monitors South Korean intelligence organizations but also regards them as a threat to the US national interest.

The Intercept - initiated by journalist Glenn Greenwald, the first person to report Snowden’s revelations - has been publishing exclusive reports on secret documents leaked by Snowden.

On Aug. 5, citing classified documents from the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) that had been obtained from “a source in the intelligence community,” the Intercept reported that around 680,000 people are on a US government watchlist for terrorists and terrorist suspects, as of Aug. 2013. 40% of the people on the list are acknowledged to have “no recognized terrorist group affiliation,” the report said.

Quoting multiple government officials, CNN reported that the classified documents that were cited in the report had been leaked not by Snowden, but by another mole. The leaked documents had been prepared in Aug. 2013, which was after Snowden left the US to escape the pursuit of judicial authorities.

“I have no doubt there will be other sources inside the government who see extreme wrongdoing who are inspired by Edward Snowden,” Greenwald said in a February interview, alluding to the existence of another leaker.

　

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