South Korea: Body of Intelligence Agent Is Found With Note on Hacking Case

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/world/asia/south-korea-body-of-intelligence-agent-is-found-with-note-on-hacking-case.html

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A South Korean government spy was found dead Saturday, in what appeared to be a suicide, alongside a note that seemed to comment on the recent revelation that the spy agency had acquired hacking programs capable of intercepting communications on cellphones and computers, the police said. A police official in Yongin, just south of Seoul, said the 46-year-old National Intelligence Service agent was found dead in his car, but would not reveal his name or details about the note, saying his family requested that the information not be made public. The agency said Tuesday that it had purchased the hacking programs in 2012 from an Italian company, but that it used them only to monitor agents from North Korea and for research purposes. The agency has a history of illegally tapping South Koreans’ private conversations.