South Korea intelligence agency raid unions over suspected ties to North Korea

The South Korean intelligence agency, along with law enforcement, raided the Seoul headquarters of the country’s major labor union this week. The raid was part of an ongoing probe into whether some members of the union had ties to North Korea.

On Wednesday, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service and the police raided the office of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in central Seoul. The agency said that some of the union’s members are suspected to have ties to North Korea. The offices of the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union in southwest Seoul were also raided by the authorities.

“We and the national police agency have been carrying out our own investigation into the suspects’ alleged ties with North Korea for several years,” a NIS official told AFP. “Based on the evidence obtained in the process, we judged that a compulsory investigation was necessary and we went ahead with the raid after the court issued a search and seizure warrant.”

Under South Korea’s highly controversial National Security Act dating back to 1948, possession of materials that were produced in North Korea could be a criminal offense. South Koreans are also restricted from accessing North Korean content, including its Rodong Sinmun newspaper.

Local media reported that the raids were carried out by alleged violations of the said law. The South Korean Yonhap news outlet reported that KCTU officials physically prevented the authorities from entering the offices, demanding that the raid and the search and seizure of property be conducted in the presence of a lawyer.

The KCTU has called the raid “barbaric” and accused the conservative administration of President Yoon Suk-yeol of “conniving” to target the organization.

Meanwhile, the South Korean police are looking to charge 23 officials with involuntary manslaughter and negligence as a result of the tragic Halloween crowd crush that took place in Itaewon last year. The officials include law enforcement officers and are expected to be charged over the public safety shortcomings the police said were what caused the tragic incident.

Friday last week, Song Je-han, who led the National Police Agency’s special probe into the matter, said his team would be sending the case file to prosecutors after the conclusion of their probe into the incident.