June 30, 2009: Concerned about North Korean attempts to carry out intelligence and terrorist operations in the south, the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) has come up with a novel idea. They created a web based game called "spot the spy." The game is running from June 22nd to July 21st at http://www.nis111.co.kr/index.asp (it's in Korean, but the graphics are nicely done.) The winners will receive video game consoles, cameras or laptops.
The game has caused some anger among leftist groups, because the game points out that leftists, pro-North Korean and anti-U.S. groups are often infiltrated by North Korean agents. Once inside, the North Koreans recruit people for espionage or smuggling operations. Over the last five years, a decade of generosity and patience spent on North Korea was seen as futile. The current political climate in South Korea is much more hostile to North Korea. That the NIS would put a game like this up on the Internet, is another example of the changing South Korean attitudes towards what North Korea is, and what it is doing.
