‘S. Korean spy agency likely consulted US before hacking country’s 2012 presidential race’

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© Oliver Berg /Global Look Press

South Korean spy agency NIS likely consulted the US before reportedly interfering in the country’s 2012 presidential race, journalist Dan Glazebrook believes.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has admitted it played a role in the country’s 2012 presidential election. The South Korean spy agency issued a statement, promising to dissociate itself from politics in the future.

In 2012, the NIS deployed its cyber-warfare unit to organize up to 30 teams to influence public opinion on social networks. As a result, then-President Moon Jae-in was defeated by Park Geun-hye. 
She was later impeached in 2016, and this year accused of corruption and arrested.

RT: Does this come as any surprise to hear intelligence agencies are interfering in their own countries’ elections?

Dan Glazebrook: That is interesting, isn’t it? But whenever you have these exposes, especially when they come from an inquiry conducted by the state itself, they are always half exposes and half cover-ups – the continuation of the cover-up.

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South Korean spy agency ‘hacked’ country’s 2012 presidential race

What was missing from the story is the role that is almost inevitable that the US would have played in this. If you look at the history of South Korea, the South Korean state was literally created by the USA. After WWII, popular committees were established all over Korea, overthrowing Japanese rule. They took power in the North, and in the South they were crushed by Syngman Rhee. Syngman Rhee had not enough popular support for the US occupying forces to be able to leave the background of the Korean Wars. The US forces stayed long beyond the point of which they were supposed to leave, because they had to prop up the state that they created, which was created for specific purpose, which was to crush the opposition, to crush the popular movements.

So, if the South Korean state was created to crush popular movements calling for the unification of Korea, then it’s no surprise that’s exactly what they are still up to. The Intelligence Service of South Korea in 2012 – the big problem was that the opposition had too much of an open policy towards North Korea – wanted to revive the Sunshine Policy, so-called, of the early 2000’s – of negotiations and reducing hostility towards North Korea and so on. Of course, that is the worst outcome for the US, because unification of Korea would ultimately end the raison d’etre for US bases on the Korean Peninsula, which means the US bases are right on the doorstep of both Russia and China.

So no, it is not a surprise, but there is a big element which is missing from this story. I think that would not have taken place – South Korean intelligence would not have done this without coordinating on this with the US. The big fear they had – both Korean intelligence, and the USA – was a government that would end the hostility with the North... So, it’s not a surprise, but there’s much more to be exposed.

RT: The finger of blame in any interference these days always seems to point at Russia. Do these revelations over South Korea suggest other countries should perhaps look a little closer to home?

DG: It is a good rule of thumb when we’re dealing with the imperial countries and their allies to assume that whatever dirt they throw at their enemies is what they themselves are up to covertly or planning to do already. Where do they get their ideas from? You can imagine deep state media departments in the US thinking, “you know, Russia is spoiling our regime-change policy in Syria. What can we throw at Russia? I don’t know, let’s see what the CIA has been up to for the last few weeks interfering in elections in Venezuela or sponsoring sectarian death squads in Libya... Ok, yeah, we’ll use some of that. We’ll just change some of the countries involved, saying that Russia is involved, or saying that Venezuela is doing that, or Syria is doing that – human rights abuses, torture...” It is the same story and this is a very good rule of thumb I had for many decades... Whatever these imperial powers and their allies say about the official enemy, they are doing that – that is where they got the idea to accuse them of it.

RT: Does no one believe in true democracy anymore?

DG: Yes, I think true democracy is possible, but the thing about the imperial colonial world system – is that democracy doesn’t make sense on a national level. I don’t think you can have democracy in a colonial country, or a neocolonial country like Britain, or the US. If you think about Britain – decisions made by the British government impact many countries beyond Britain’s borders. The people of Yemen bear the brunt of British policy far more than the people of Britain. Same for the people of Afghanistan, or Iraq, or Syria, or Libya. Yet none of these people have the vote. But democracy is supposed to mean that those people who are affected by political power have some input into that political power and how it is used. But the vast majority of people… have no say over the British government. You cannot have democracy within a colonial system – that is the issue. If anyone who calls himself a democrat – they have to expose and be opposed to the kind of colonialism and imperialism as practiced by the big powers, otherwise they have but a corpse in their mouth. They are talking nonsense. You can’t have democracy in an imperial world system, such as we have.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.