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(S//SI) Back in Time: A Look at the US-ROK SIGINT Relationship
FROM:
Country Desk Officer for Korea (DP15)
Run Date: 04/21/2005
(S//SI) The SIGINT relationship with the Republic of Korea (ROK) began initially as a way of
ensuring a steady flow of SIGINT to American forces during wartime, and even with the
cessation of hostilities, the primary concern of U.S. planners remained war-related. The fact that
its primary reason for existence revolved around issues of peace and war allowed the
relationship to remain under NSA aegis rather than reverting to CIA control. This in turn
influenced the course taken in managing subsequent foreign relations.
(S//SI) At the time of the armistice in 1953, the cryptologic community took stock of its
operations in Korea, assessed future needs in terms of threat and resources to meet the threat,
and made arrangements to implement these assessments. In reevaluating wartime
arrangements, the US cryptologic community found them unsatisfactory for a number of reasons
and sought to reshape the US-ROK SIGINT relations in beneficial ways.
(S//SI) The process began with temporizing measures to ensure the flow of signals intelligence
to US forces in Korea; was followed by a period of uncertainty in which senior intelligence
officials discussed options in policy; and concluded with the negotiation of a bilateral agreement
concerning SIGINT. In undertaking this process, the US forced the consolidation of two existing
ROK military SIGINT units into an organization loosely modeled on its US counterparts, creating
for the ROK a national SIGINT service. At the same time, the US established its own entity, the
United Stated Special Liaison Advisor Korea (SUSLAK), to deal with the new organization.
(S//SI) The central ROK SIGINT authority, The Defense Security Agency (DSA), subordinate to
the Ministry of National Defense, was created at the time the bilateral agreement became
effective on 10 January 1956.
was appointed as Director, DSA, with
as his deputy.
, from the Pacific Division of
NSA's Office of Analysis, was nominated as the first Chief of SUSLAK on 6 December 1955.
(S//SI) The ROK-US agreement marked several new developments in Third Party
relations. For one thing, it was negotiated and managed by NSA instead of CIA, a departure
from past practice. The value of the agreement is borne out by its longevity and its stability.
Despite the fluctuation in relations between the two countries in the early years, the SIGINT
relationship has continued -- and deepened. Over many decades it has proved a strong
cornerstone of US SIGINT policy in East Asia.
(U//FOUO) This article is reprinted from the March Foreign Affairs Digest .
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108