A 45-year-old official of National Intelligence Service (NIS), who
was in the charge of implementing and operating a hacking software developed by
Hacking team dubbed Remote Control System (RCS), killed himself on July 18, according
to a report on ABC.
As per the news report, the man was found dead in his car on
a mountain road in Yongin, about 40 kilometres south of Seoul.
According to his suicide note, which was released by the police, the agent, identified only by his surname Lim, deleted relevant records on the NIS computer network before committing suicide
According to police, the man committed suicide after writing
a handwritten note in his car giving details of how the NIS had used a
controversial hacking software.
Lim wrote in the suicide note that he
had insisted the NIS had not spied on South Koreans and apologized for deleting
files relating to the software.
"There was no monitoring of people at home. I deleted
information that created misunderstandings about our counter-terrorism and
covert operations on North Korea ... It was a mistake on my part. But there is
nothing to be worried about over any of my actions," he said.
Although, the government and NIS officials have admitted
purchasing the software from the Hacking Team, they claimed that it was only
used to boost Seoul's cyber warfare capabilities against Pyongyang and not for
any domestic monitoring.
“Lee Chul-woo, a ruling party legislator who heads a
parliamentary intelligence committee, said Mr Lim had purchased and run the
hacking software, which allows users to track smartphones and computers by
installing spyware,” the news report read.