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Korean star Hyun Bin appointed honorary counterintelligence agent
Korean star Hyun Bin appointed honorary counterintelligence agent
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) appointed actor Hyun Bin as an honorary counterintelligence agent on April 7.
The NIS is the Korean government’s chief intelligence agency working against espionage, terrorism and threats against South Korea.
Hyun Bin starred as an NIS agent in the 2023 film “The Point Men.”
The NIS said Hyun Bin’s appointment was arranged to inform the public of the precise concept and importance of “counterintelligence,” which had previously been regarded in the narrow sense of “identifying and arresting North Korean spies,” taking advantage of the revision of the espionage law.
Last Feb. 26, South Korea’s legislature, the National Assembly, amended the law, Criminal Act, to expand the scope of application of espionage charges from “enemy nations” to “foreign countries.”
The NIS said counter-intelligence goes beyond the simple act of rooting out spies; it encompasses all response activities aimed at identifying foreign intelligence operations that run counter to national security and interests, and at checking and blocking them.
As the honorary counterintelligence agent, Hyun Bin will carry out various activities in the future to widely promote the importance of the NIS and counter-intelligence operations.
“Recently, incidents threatening national survival, such as the leakage of advanced technology and defense industry secrets by foreign entities, have been occurring frequently, and the importance of counterintelligence is growing,” an NIS official said. “The National Intelligence Service, together with Honorary Counterintelligence Agent Hyun Bin, will actively meet public expectations through seamless counterintelligence activities following the ‘amendment of the espionage law.’”
