“Are you a supporter of Lee Jae-myung?”: Whistleblower claims Korean military intelligence is carrying out illegal surveillance in support of Dec 3rd Insurrection

An active-duty counterintelligence officer has appeared in front of JTBC cameras. It has been 36 years since an internal whistleblower emerged, following the 1990 revelation by Private Yoon Seok-yang of the Defense Security Command about the “surveillance of 1,300 individuals.” To protect the identity of this whistleblower, we will refer to the officer as Mr. A. We ask for viewers’ understanding that he can only be shown in silhouette.

What Mr. A wanted to convey in his own voice was that even after an insurrection took place, the counterintelligence command has shown no signs of self-reflection. Inside the organization, political inclinations are still being gathered as intelligence, martial law is being defended, and some personnel are being divided along political lines with remarks such as, “Are you a supporter of Lee Jae-myung?”

This is an exclusive report by reporter Kim Pil-jun.

Mr. A, a current counterintelligence officer, received a strange order earlier this year.

[Mr. A / Counterintelligence Command Officer: “There was a ‘somewhat unusual individual.’ I was instructed to get close to that person and try to hear what they had to say.”]

The order was to gather information on a person within the military, based on the suspicion that the individual opposed the December 3 martial law.

[Mr. A / Counterintelligence Command Officer: “The person was someone who spoke out against martial law or openly talked about politics. I was told to speak with them and gather information.”]

There were also instructions to collect information on individuals who supported martial law.

[Mr. A / Counterintelligence Command Officer: “We were told to collect all information on statements supporting martial law…”]

Mr. A said that orders to prepare actual reports followed.

[Mr. A / Counterintelligence Command Officer: “Basically, we were told to write reports stating that they had violated political neutrality…”]

Even after it was revealed that the counterintelligence command under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration played a key role in illegal martial law, the organization was still collecting intelligence on political leanings—something outside its authority.

By law, the counterintelligence command is tasked with collecting information related to defense industry security, terrorism, espionage operations, and military personnel.

However, under the pretext of investigating violations of political neutrality, it was effectively conducting internal political surveillance.

Meanwhile, according to Mr. A, some personnel within the unit have been making remarks that reflect a very different attitude.

[Mr. A / Counterintelligence Command Officer: “There are often cases where someone who doesn’t fit in is told things like, ‘Are you a supporter of Lee Jae-myung?’ or ‘You voted No.1, didn’t you?’”]

He also said there remains an atmosphere within the command that defends martial law.

[Mr. A / Counterintelligence Command Officer: “Basically, officers say martial law was justified—that it was to protect a free Korea. Some even proudly say they watch far-right YouTubers.”]

In response, the counterintelligence command told JTBC that it had “never issued any orders this year to collect political inclination data on service members,” denying the collection of information related to positions on martial law.

It also stated that it had “not identified any personnel who made remarks claiming martial law was justified,” adding that it would conduct a strict internal investigation if such claims are confirmed.