Former and incumbent executives of the National Confederation of Democratic Trade Unions (KCTU), who are suspected of contacting North Korean agents abroad and working in the country under orders, have been arrested.
On the 27th, Suwon District Court Chief Judge Cha Jin-seok, in charge of warrants, issued arrest warrants for four people, including Mr. Chief Judge Cha explained the reason for issuing the warrant, saying, “There is a reason for arrest, such as fear of destroying evidence or fleeing.”
From August 2017 to last year, Mr. A and others are suspected of meeting and receiving orders from operatives from the Cultural Exchange Bureau, a South Korean operative under the North Korean Workers’ Party, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Hanoi, Vietnam, and working in the country.
The counterintelligence authorities believe that they communicated with the North and exchanged reports to the North and directives to the South over 100 times. After the Itaewon Halloween disaster in October of last year, it was reported that orders containing protest slogans such as “Resignation is a memorial” were also delivered.
The National Intelligence Service and the police conducted a compulsory investigation in January of this year, including seizure and search of 10 places, including the homes of former and current KCTU executives and the office of the KCTU headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul.
Reporter Jahyun Kim [email protected]
