Three agents for South Korea’s spy agency broke into a downtown Seoul hotel room occupied by a delegation of Indonesian presidential envoys last week, apparently seeking secrets about bids for a defence contract, a newspaper said today.
The three left after being confronted by a member of the Indonesian delegation, led by a senior Cabinet minister. They had been discovered looking at files on a laptop computer, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said.
“National Intelligence Service employees were looking to identify the Indonesian delegation’s negotiating strategy with a view on our national interest,” a senior South Korean official was quoted as saying by the Chosun Ilbo.
The National Intelligence Service denied the report.
South Korea has been bidding for a contract to supply trainer fighter jets to Indonesia, the newspaper said. South Korean firms have also been increasingly eyeing Indonesia’s growing consumer market and natural resources.
Indonesia’s investment chief said last year he expected South Korea to invest up to US$10 billion in the next three to four years, with LG Electronics and Hyundai Motor considering taking part.
Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that there had been a break-in, leading to a laptop being stolen, but said it was returned 20 minutes later and played down the incident.
“The laptop belonged to a staff member, not a high-ranking official,” spokesman Michael Tene said in Jakarta.
The staff member worked in the trade ministry, a government source told Reuters.
“This has caused uneasiness in the relations of the two countries,” Teguh Juwarno, a member of the Indonesian parliament’s defence and foreign affairs commission, said.
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