NIS Employee’s Suicide Note Feeds Smartphone Hacking Scandal

It will be interesting to see if this guy’s suicide note is ever released to public to see what the “national interest” information is:

An employee of South Korea’s spy agency has been found dead in his car with his will, which contains information about a hacking incident that has triggered a controversy in the country, police said Saturday.

Police said that the person identified only by his family name Lim worked for the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and was discovered around noon on a mountain road in Yongin, south of Seoul. Investigators present at the site said there was a burnt coal inside the car and no sign of forced entry, making it likely that the 45-year-old took his own life.

They also said he left a three-page, handwritten will on the front passenger seat that expressed his feelings about family and work, which included matters of “national interest.”

Police said they could not release more details about the will because relatives were opposed to the contents becoming public.

Family members reported his disappearance after Lim left home around 5 a.m. and could not be contacted, authorities said.

The apparent suicide and the will are expected to further stoke the controversy surrounding where and how the NIS used the hacking program.

The software program, which uses Remote Control System technology, allows hackers to manipulate and track smartphones and computers by installing spyware.

The NIS said it bought the program made by an Italian company in 2012 and confirmed it can be used to hack into up to 20 mobile phones simultaneously.

The NIS claimed it used the program for the purpose of strengthening cyber warfare capabilities against Pyongyang.

Such explanations, however, are met with skepticism by many in the country, and in particular, the main opposition party, which thinks the NIS used the program to spy on South Korean civilians.  [Yonhap]