High-Ranking Military Officials Embroiled in Cyber Gambling Scandal: ‘Quick Money’ Schemes and Coin Investment Secrets Exposed

Counterintelligence agency begins investigation into intelligence acquisition earlier this year
An officer sent to the military prosecutor’s office this spring for leaking the secret code
Several other military officials are being investigated on the same charges.
Private “password harvesting” loan sharks have no interest in dealing with the public

It has been revealed that military leaders, including officers, have leaked passwords to private loan sharks for identity verification and collateral purposes to borrow money for virtual currency investments and cyber gambling. The password is a level 3 secret word that each unit decides on a daily basis and exchanges in a question-and-answer format to distinguish friendly forces from enemies. After the leak of the black list of agents by military personnel of the Armed Forces Intelligence Command, another secret incident has become known and there are voices calling for an urgent reform plan for the military.

● Intelligence on “suspicious loan sharks harvesting passwords”

According to Dong-A Ilbo report on the 22nd, the Jeonju Prosecutor’s Office indicted Mr. A, a loan shark, earlier this month on charges of asking for passwords (violating the Military Secrets Protection Act, etc.) under the pretext of verifying that soldiers asking to lend him money were real soldiers. The Jeonbuk Police Agency is reportedly investigating whether there are more loan sharks who collected passwords than Mr. A, who has already been indicted. Separately, the Armed Forces Counterintelligence Command is said to be investigating several military leaders in their 20s and 30s who leaked secret codes to loan sharks on the same charge. These leaders are said to work in units in the Chungcheong region and elsewhere.

The investigation into the password leak began earlier this year when the counterintelligence agency discovered that there was a private loan shark who was collecting passwords through intelligence activities. As a result of the investigation, it was reported that Loan Shark A and others asked military leaders who were having trouble getting loans at commercial banks to use passwords, saying, “It’s hard to trust them,” even after verifying their military IDs. They only lent the money after confirming that the password used was indeed the one used by the unit that day.

Security is emphasized to the point that the password cannot be leaked through the phone, and if it is leaked, it must be immediately deleted and a new one created. Important secrets that could be immediately used to infiltrate military bases if obtained from the North Korean army or spies are leaked outside the army.

During the investigation, the counterintelligence agency was the first to catch military officer B, who leaked a secret code while borrowing money for virtual currency transactions, and sent him to the military prosecutor’s office in the spring of this year. According to the military court, Mr. B was sentenced to two years in prison and two years and four months of probation in the first trial in May this year, and the sentence was upheld after he renounced the appeal. Since the beginning of the investigation, the transfer to military prosecutors, prosecution and court sentence have proceeded rapidly within 5 months. There are observations that the problem was solved quickly considering the seriousness of the problem, as the password leak could lead to basic intrusions and terrorism.

It is said that during the investigation of Mr. B, the counterintelligence agency also discovered that there were other military leaders who provided the password to loan sharks. Since May, the counterintelligence agency has expanded its investigation by cooperating with the Jeonbuk Police Agency, and several military leaders are under investigation. It is said that the reason why they distributed the password was to borrow money for cyber gambling.

● Private loan sharks have no interest in dealing with the public.

Fortunately, it turned out that the loan sharks were not suspected of attacking the public and there were no incidents of intrusion into the unit.

However, it is stressed that the leak of the secret code is tantamount to completely opening the door of the military unit, so urgent measures must be taken to prevent this from happening again. A government source said: “Had there not been an initial investigation by the counter-intelligence agency, we cannot rule out the possibility that spies and others would have approached the loan sharks as rumours about the password collection spread.” An army officer said: “Passwords are sent to each unit at regular intervals, and it is hard to believe that they have been leaked to the outside world.” He added: “I am pleased that the leaked access codes were not used.”

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Journalist Son Hyo-joo hjson@donga.com
Jeonju = Reporter Park Young-min minpress@donga.com