KCIA During the 1970s

The Korean CIA (KCIA) was a force to be reckoned with during the Park Chung Hee era, and it seemed that nothing was too small for their interference.

For instance in 1973 a professor "demonstrated that Korean instant noodles were made of such low-grade ingredients that a laboratory rabbit, fed them continuously, died." But as these results were about to be made public, the KCIA intervened to squelch them.

And unsurprisingly, the KCIA also maintained closed surveillance on then opposition leader Kim Dae Jung, but again unsurprisingly, denied that it had done so.

In an excerpt from Letters From South Korea, a Korean noted that "any claim that the KCIA has not maintained surveillance of an important figure like Kim Dae Jung can only make any Korean wonder if there are no limits to brazen dishonesty."

The excerpt added: "We all know very well that the intelligence network at home extends to even the least significant person. To be asked to swallow another of the government's shameless lies makes us choke on our own fury."