Military Leaks Must Stop Once and for All

A two-star Army general is being investigated for leaking military secrets to North Korea. Among the top secret information that was apparently leaked is a joint South Korea-U.S. defense plan in the event of a war with North Korea that includes information such as troop deployment plans, key North Korean targets, strategies for a military strike at the North and military control of facilities in the North. In other words, the document, named OPLAN 5027, contains information that could put the lives of people in South Korea in danger if it falls into the wrong hands. It is hard to believe that a general leaked such information to North Korea.

The general has been deeply involved in operational strategies in the South Korean military and had access to top secret information. He apparently leaked OPLAN 5027 while he was chief of staff at an Army corps during the Roh Moo-hyun administration. Investigators must leave no stone unturned to find out what classified information was leaked. If North Korea got its hands on OPLAN 5027, then South Korea's entire operational strategy is now useless. The military must waste no time in coming up with a way to plug such information leaks.

Bits and pieces of OPLAN 5027 were leaked before. In 2005, an error by a young officer caused 73 pages of the plan to be exposed on the Internet, while last year other parts were stolen by a hacker who was traced to an IP address in China. There is no military in the world that takes such poor care of top secret tactical information.

It is simply appalling to see that North Korean agents can now cajole a South Korean general to obtain the whole operational plan. The military must urgently revamp the way it handles top secret information and deal with troop discipline, starting at the top.