North Korea’s security service caught hiding secret leaks

North Korea’s state security agency internally concealed and handled secret information leaks from its central units, sparking controversy when they were uncovered during a surprise inspection by the Central Committee’s Organization and Management Department.

A source told Daily NK on October 18 that the five-day inspection on October 8 found that the agency did not directly inform the party about secret leaks discovered in its radio supervision and communications departments from early September to early October but instead I fixed them inside.

The inspection was prompted by the agency’s quarterly reports this year, which covered only minor problems in local security bodies while ignoring major incidents in central departments.

The source said the Organization and Advisory Department viewed the agency’s quiet handling of about 30 secret leak incidents as a sign that such crimes had become chronic and that internal problems were being passively addressed.

Specifically, the source said: “The radio detection department was caught illegally copying and distributing communications codebooks and confidential documents. In the communications department, some officers were caught deleting personal case files or revealing secrets such as password changes for financial gain.”

The key issue raised during the inspection was the agency’s approach to dealing with these incidents internally without reporting them. The party department called on the agency’s leadership to change its view on the matter.

The source added that despite these failures, the responsible officials were spared serious consequences because they transparently disclosed all requested materials at the start of the inspection.

The Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.

Please send comments or questions about this article to [email protected].

Read in Korean