As the phone tapping scandal of European leaders continues to grow, politicians and media in South Korea are alarmed by stories of American spying within their own government. Glen Greenwald, the reporter who has released evidence of NSA phone surveillance of foreign leaders passed to him by Edward Snowden, mentioned in an interview with South Korean media that Korea was also subject to similar surveillance and he will soon be releasing the evidence.
South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been criticized for their subdued reaction to the alleged spying. So far, America’s only message to the South Korean government has been a nonspecific, “we understand your position.” Netizens were not very surprised by the allegations, with progressive voices saying that current and previous conservative Korean governments would have been happy to send over their phone records as long as America was interested.
An unhappy Merkel suspects that the U.S. listened in on her phone calls.
Was Park Geun-hye subject to the same treatment?
Article from Chosun Ilbo:
CNN reports, ‘America’s NSA also eavesdropping on South Korea’
As evidence emerges of America’s eavesdropping program on the phones of 35 heads of state around the world, CNN reported on October 26th that the NSA is also eavesdropping on South Korea.
CNN confirmed that America’s National Security Agency, (NSA) has been eavesdropping on South Korea, citing a former intelligence agent who said that America has been conducting ‘economic spying activities’ on South Korea, France, Israel, and a number of other allied nations.
Newstapa, an independent news outlet, recently spoke with Glen Greenwald, the famous former reporter for England’s The Guardian newspaper, and asked about any Korean connection to the NSA spying issue. In an October 25th exclusive report, Greenwald announced that he would soon organize and release documents describing eavesdropping in South Korea.
Working from secret documents provided by former CIA employee Edward Snowden, Greenwald has exposed the eavesdropping and surveillance activities of the world’s foremost intelligence agency against at least 34 world leaders, including their personal phones and email. Newstapa met and interviewed Greenwald at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Rio, Brazil, which ran from Ocober 12th to the 15th.
Concerns about NSA eavesdropping on Korean leaders emerged after October 23rd reports on America monitoring of German Prime Minister Angela Merkel’s cell phone. While America immediately offered excuses, it did not deny the existence of past eavesdropping and has been subject to intense criticism from European nations.
The German weekly magazine, Der Spiegel, reported that the CIA had monitored Merkel’s phone for more than ten years, starting in 2002.
Meanwhile, there was recently a protest of hundreds in front of the White House against the NSA’s surveillance programs.
Comments from Daum:
블랙키:
so then America must have known about the recent tampered election [the 2012 South Korea presidential election]
gjjjjj:
So what if they did it, can we find out any details?
하얀바다:
If Moon Jae-in had been elected president we would protest American eavesdropping, but with Chicken-brain [Park Geun Hye] and Rat-brain [Lee Myung-bak] in power, we won’t dare say a peep… idiots…
JH:
Why would they need to eavesdrop? bastards like Kim Moo-sung or Kwan Young-se would have been happy to print out transcripts for them. [Kim and Kwan are two conservative politicians extremely unpopular with progressive Koreans]
해웅:
This reminds me of that phrase, “America’s sheep” [종미], why does our country always kneel before the Americans
하늘아래모두:
Did they even need to monitor the phones? Rat-brain and Her Highness… they would snap a salute and obey anything they are told…
사랑하자:
Germany did it, of course our country did it as well. You’ve got to have power. Koreans are weird like that, we don’t have power, but we always fight. When are we going to put our strength together? We try to take care of the country, but we are always fighting among ourselves. But that’s the way it’s got to be so we can make money. We’ve got to sell weapons, give jobs to our citizens, when are we going to come to our senses
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson Han Hye-jin states in a press conference that her ministry is talking with the U.S. about the spying allegations and will take “appropriate measures”.
human:
As long as America still has a tight hold on Wartime Operational Control, it would be strange if they didn’t eavesdrop
Comments from Twitter:
조국:
Korea asks, “Did you eavesdrop?” America answers, “we understand your position.” I understand that America is trying everything it can to avoid the question. And there are still many Koreans who want to let this issue go.
이석현:
America’s NSA has been eavesdropping on 34 heads of state, including South Korea’s, Germany is in an uproar, and yet our country stands silent? Greenwald says he will soon publish the Korean eavesdropping records, we will have to take a look! We have to strengthen our nation in order for others to respect us!
서주호:
America’s indiscriminate surveillance is shaking the world. Obama is more of a reformer than the Republicans, but he is being criticized around the world for his apparent knowledge of the eavesdropping program. He is just out to support America’s role as a hegemony.
Comments from Ilbe:
(unknown):
Isn’t this a pretty serious issue? Enough to completely flip the opinion of EU countries about America? I don’t see anybody talking about [the eavesdropping issue]. I would look to hear from one of you gays who is an expert on this.
현자무현:
Well.. honestly don’t all government do dirty things to each other? The EU must also have all different kinds of intelligence agencies running around ke ke ke
보빨러OUT트:
Go to Today’s Humor, the empire of anti-Americanism, and you will find a lot of posts about this issue
