Black Agent Hong Jang-won - Conscience Rooted in Patriotism

Prologue: The Name Revealed from the Shadows

In the winter of 2024, the name of a man shook the political and media realms. He is Hong Jang-won, a former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service. However, people remember him by a moniker that holds more power than his real name: 'Black Agent'—a figure who operated without a tangible presence in the history of South Korean intelligence operations. When he came forward on air to reveal the president's emergency martial law orders, this quiet background figure rose to the center of upheaval. His words were not merely a personal confession. They constituted a significant national issue that disrupts the constitutional order and a heavy truth that our society must confront.

Beginning of Special Operations: 707 Special Mission Battalion and Counter-Terrorism Agents

Hong Jang-won's public career began in 1987 as the company commander of the 707th Special Mission Battalion in the Army. The 707th unit is an elite special forces trained in counter-terrorism, infiltration response, and high-profile hostage rescues as if in real combat. Although the Cold War was nearing its end, tensions on the Korean Peninsula remained high, and he was deployed in the invisible battlefield, known as the 'battle of shadows.' During this time, he operated quietly yet with a cool demeanor, embodying the operational realism and confidentiality that later became the foundation for his intelligence activities.

Ankibu and the National Intelligence Service, 30 Years of Dark Operations

In 1992, he was specially recruited by the National Security Planning Agency (now the National Intelligence Service), marking the beginning of his career as an intelligence agent. Subsequently, counterintelligence, anti-terrorism, North Korean operations, and overseas intelligence gathering became part of his daily life—missions that are often unimaginable. Having changed his name and concealed his affiliation even from his family, he lived for 30 years as a true 'black agent' who operated without a tangible presence. He also made contributions at the intersection of diplomacy and policy, serving as a political minister in the UK, chief secretary to the head of the National Intelligence Service, and special advisor on North Korea. In 2022, he reached the pinnacle of his career by being appointed as the first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service with the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol government. However, the public knew almost nothing about him, as his existence was synonymous with invisibility itself.

National Intelligence Service First Deputy Director and the Tension of Power

At the beginning of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, the National Intelligence Service's focus shifted towards international cooperation, North Korean intelligence, and strategic analysis. Hong Jang-won, a practical figure skilled in overseas operations and North Korean analysis, was given an important role however, internally, it was being swayed by loyalty to power. He later said, 'Loyalty must start from mutual trust. If the independence of intelligence agencies crumbles in front of power, that burden will be passed on to the people.'

12·3 Coup Conspiracy: The Shadow of Martial Law and Arrests

On the night of December 3, 2023, he heads to the presidential residence after an internal meeting at the National Intelligence Service. There, he reveals that he received orders for the arrest of certain individuals—Lee Jae-myung, Kim Eo-jun, Cho Kuk, Han Dong-hoon, and others—from President Yoon Seok-yeol. He perceives this as the 'prelude to a coup-like martial law' and mentions that military forces have been deployed in the metropolitan area under the pretext of martial law training. At this point, he testifies that contact with the National Intelligence Service Director has been lost and states that abnormal signs have been detected within the agency. This was not just a simple political interpretation but a feasible scenario for martial law, making the shock even greater.

After the Revelation: A Cry of 'Am I a Communist?'

His revelations soon met with fierce backlash from the conservative camp. Some branded him as a 'commie,' a label he found to be an unbearable insult. 'I have been a person who hunted down communists for 40 years. I am not progressive or conservative, but someone who has solely been faithful to national interests and the constitution.' Despite being accused of betrayal, he did not retract his testimony. Rather, he demonstrated through his own body how state power pushes people to conceal the truth.

Structural Warnings of Systems and Institutions

Hong Jang-won's testimony is not merely an internal whistleblower. It was a warning that reveals the structural flaws within South Korea's security system. The structure of the martial law activation was not functioning with an effective system of checks and balances among the president, the military, and intelligence agencies, and he demonstrated that the political neutrality of the National Intelligence Service could also be undermined. Above all, in a reality where there are no protections for whistleblowers within intelligence agencies, he stepped forward to testify solely on the basis of his conscience. His courage starkly highlights the dimensions of the institutional trust crisis.

Epilogue: "The truth must be recorded and spoken."

Now he is no longer a figure in the shadows. His face and name have been revealed to the world, and his words have begun to be recorded. He refers to himself not as a 'politician' but as a 'witness.' His struggle is a resistance not against specific individuals, but against the 'ways of power' that undermine the constitutional order. His emergence is both a warning and an opportunity. The truth must no longer be a subject of concealment, but the starting point of deliberation. And that deliberation depends on how 'we,' the ones reading this text, respond. Hong Jang-won's voice is not the end but the beginning. And that beginning serves as a mirror reflecting where our society and democracy are headed.