Nov. 3, 2009 (The Korea Times) -- Prosecutors arrested the former head of the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis (KIDA), Tuesday, identified only by his family name, Hwang, for keeping copies of military secrets he acquired while serving as head of the Defense Ministry-affiliated institute.

According to prosecutors, Hwang, a former Army colonel, asked his researchers to gather information classified as second-level secrets during the months of June and July in connection with a project commissioned by the U.S. defense contractor, Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC)

In the project, which is supposedly related to Korea's coastal surveillance system and marketability for equipment, Hwang is suspected of being asked by Northrop Grumman Corp. to give a status report on maritime police; the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs; and the National Intelligence Service. Prosecutors say that Hwang received money in return.

Hwang is also suspected of copying sensitive and confidential military information before he retired from KIDA in March 2005 and storing it inside his PC where it could be viewed by his employees at a private institute he set up.

Prosecutors said that the information he was found to have possessed included details regarding a key war plan, comparison of inter-Korean military power, and mid- and long-term force improvement plans.

The case arose after the revelation that an Air Force officer had handed over secrets regarding Korea's next generation fighter project to Saab, the Swedish defense contractor. Prosecutors are paying close attention to the involvement of active military officers in these espionage-bribery cases.