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Police disclose will left by late spy agency employee

Police on Sunday disclosed the will left by a deceased spy agency employee that could shed new light on a controversial hacking program.
  

On Saturday, the employee of the National Intelligence Service, surnamed Lim, was found dead in a car on a mountain road in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul. He left a three-page, handwritten will on the front passenger seat that expressed his feelings about family, parents and work, which included matters of "national interest."
  

His relatives were initially opposed to the contents becoming public, but one investigator told Yonhap News Agency Sunday that the authorities had persuaded them to disclose the note.
  

In the note, Lim insisted that the NIS never used its hacking program on civilians or on any South Korean nationals in relation to elections, and said he got carried away.
  

"I decided the NIS was more important than whatever impact (my action) would cause, and so I deleted information that created misunderstandings about our counter-terrorism and covert operations on North Korea," Lim wrote. "It was a mistake on my part. But there is nothing to be worried about over any of my actions."

Lim also apologized to his colleagues and added, "I hope (the leadership) will manage the NIS so that all the employees can carry out their operations without hesitation."
  

Investigators said there was a piece of burnt coal inside Lim's car, but there were no signs of forced entry or any suspicious marks on his body, making it likely that the 45-year-old took his own life. An autopsy on Lim will be performed later Sunday.
  

The apparent suicide and the note are expected to further stoke the controversy surrounding where and how the NIS used the hacking program it bought from an Italian company in 2012.
  

The NIS has so far said the program, which uses Remote Control System technology, allows hackers to manipulate and track smartphones and computers by installing spyware.
  

It said the system can hack 20 mobile phones simultaneously, making it ideal for eavesdropping.
  

The NIS emphasized that it used the program for the purpose of strengthening cyber warfare capabilities against Pyongyang and only against people living outside the country that have ties with the reclusive, communist country.
  

Such explanations, however, have been met with skepticism by many in the country, and in particular, the main opposition party, which believes the NIS has also spied on South Korean civilians.
  

The spy agency countered that while the information about the hacking is classified, it will show the usage records of the controversial hacking program to lawmakers to alleviate concerns that clandestine operations were carried out on locals. (Yonhap)