South Korea Spy Agency under Scrutiny after Reporting Pyongyang Execution
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The South Korean spy agency's assertion that North Korea purged its defense chief and executed him with anti-aircraft fire is one of its boldest claims ever, and, given the agency's chequered history, has come under growing scrutiny.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) has a daunting major task - to look into arch-enemy North Korea, one of the world's most insular and hostile nations, and find out what's happening in its corridors of power.
The agency correctly revealed in 2013 that Jang Song Thaek, ruler Kim Jong Un's uncle and the second most powerful man in North Korea, had been purged. Among its misses, it failed to learn of the death in 2011 of leader Kim Jong Il, the current ruler's father.
The scepticism over the latest assertion stems from the NIS' evident certainty that Hyon Yong Chol was ousted as defense chief, although it will not publicly disclose its evidence, while it has said it is less certain he has been executed, Reuters reported.
The NIS says it has intelligence of the execution but notes there has been no confirming statement from Pyongyang, and archival footage that includes Hyon continues to appear on state TV. However, the same reasoning appears to undermine its confidence of Hyon's purge, as people removed from office in Pyongyang also tend to drop out of state media, although not necessarily immediately.
Hyon, typically active in public events alongside Kim, has been absent from any mention in North Korea's official media since April 29, around the time the NIS says he was executed.
"I think they were too early to come out (with the news). NIS is playing a big, risky gamble," said Cheong Seong-chang, a North Korea watcher at the Sejong Institute and a critic of the NIS's handling of its information on Hyon.
"If it turns out NIS was wrong, it would be a huge embarrassment and put a dent in their ability to collect information," he said.
The secretive NIS took the rare step this week of sharing 11 pages of documents with a group of journalists to back up its assertions, although it does not reveal its sources.
