South Korean Military to End Surveillance of Innocent Civilians, Officers

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) plans to overhaul its cyber and security commands to end interference in domestic politics and surveillance of innocent civilians and military officers.

The MND is proposing abolishing the security command’s branch devoted to monitoring senior officers suspected of subversion and disloyalty, an unnamed official was quoted as saying by Korea Herald Sunday.

In addition,  the MND is seeking to reorganize the command’s Defense Psychological Operational Group, whose personnel allegedly posted online comments in favor of the 2012-ruling party’s presidential candidate Park Geun-hye, who had defeated Moon Jae-in at the polls.

Some of the group’s cyber-related elements would be incorporated into the Defense Intelligence Agency under the Defense Ministry, which provides intelligence assistance, integration and coordination across military services, the source said.

These measures are a series of reforms of the MND and some of it branches led by Defense Minister Song.

In another report, the Korea's foreign ministry plans to sign a contract with an outside cyber-security agency next month to draw up the 2018-2022 cyber-security road map within this year.

"It's a project to improve the overall information security system in order to cope with cyberattacks on important information including diplomatic cables," a ministry official told Yohnap news agency.