(MENAFN- Asia Times)
To your dismay, after studying Korean for years at university, you now work in a government office that records agricultural statistics. The week after you've attended a South Korean Embassy event, a Korean diplomat asks to meet you.
She introduces you to a colleague, a Mr Kim. Another week later, and Mr Kim asks you to write a short paper on the recent election to help him better understand local politics. He is, after all, new to the country. It would be a very kind favor and it would help you practice Korean. Although, it's weird, you think: Mr Kim doesn't read the newspapers?
Mr Kim then pays you more than such a task was worth – in cash! This is good, you think. A few weeks later, you've written short papers on local politics, the school system and the media – and received good money!
Then Mr Kim asks whether you'd be interested in writing a more detailed paper on agriculture. He'd pay more money, and it is what you do at work. Maybe you could present it in Korea, he says. A free trip and more money ...
Close allies spy on each other.
It's a tradition . Alliances are presented to the public as built on mutual trust and shared goals, but individual nations
always
prioritize their interests.
This means that in any bilateral relationship, there rests a degree of uncertainty and distrust. Intelligence operations are used to gather intelligence and influence the intentions, capabilities and strategies of partners.
This increases certainty and builds trust. It allows partners to safeguard national security, maintain strategic advantage within the framework of cooperation and, importantly, avoid surprises. Handled maturely, intelligence acts as a form of bilateral reassurance. This also applies to the South Korea-US relationship.
Despite the willingness to“fight tonight” in an“ironclad” alliance, South Korea and the US routinely undertake intelligence operations to reduce
abandonment anxiety
and to secure competitive advantage. Cold War arms control serves as an example.
The US conducted operations to verify South Korea's compliance with arms control treaties, which impacted US relations with global partners, while South Korea conducted operations to break out of the constraints imposed on it through arms control agreements.
Of course, there are areas in which South Korea and the US compete directly. They are natural competitors in all economic fields. Securing intelligence and influence to out-compete the other is just as natural as fighting side-by-side.
As is common in cases of“recruiting friendlies,” activity often commences in a gray area that sits between diplomacy and espionage.
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