Soldiers, beware seduction!

Princess Spy? Don't let the tiara fool you--beware the poison darts!

When a 34 year-old North Korean woman was indicted for espionage this week, a flurry of scintillating media reports covered the broadsides and evening news, dripping with the juicy twists and tawdry details of a cheap spy novel. The reportedly well-educated, and obviously good lookin', Won Jeong-hwa came to the South to gather military secrets from loose-lipped officers. Despite the entertainment factor, not to mention the national security risk, I had all but decided not to blog about Won's exploits . . . until I read the following lead in a Korea Times article

printed today:

Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee pledged Thursday to implement measures to prevent soldiers from being seduced by North Korean spies.

Wow, can I get in on the training? Sounds like a blast! When this story broke a couple days ago, I teased the men in our news department, "If North Korea is smart, it'll recuit only female spies. Men can't help it. They crumble at the hands of women." One South Korean officer who fell prey to Won's feminine wiles says he discovered her identity but didn't turn her in because he loved her. How sweet.

In addition to her trysts with uniformed men, she apparently duped a regular ole South Korean Joe into marrying her in 2001. "Joe" claims to have had no knowledge of his wife's double life. As it turns out, Ms. Won was actually a double agent, swapping secrets on both sides of the border. Prior to this gig, she was working for the North Korean government in China where she was responsible for rounding up North Korean defectors to be repatriated--and likely killed.

Some of the all too entertaining details of this story include poison darts (for taking down South Korean big wigs), matchmaking services, and now anti-seduction training! There's never a dull day in Korea.