A Democratic Labor Party adviser was arrested Friday and is under investigation for providing information to North Korean agents during trips abroad. This is the first time that security officials have pursued an espionage case since the new government was inaugurated.

The Public Security Department of the Seoul District Public Prosecutors Office and the National Intelligence Service said Sunday that the 72-year-old suspect, identified only by his surname Kang, allegedly handed over various packages of information to North Korean spies and received millions of won in return for encouraging several South Korean officials to visit Pyonyang...

Kang is also being questioned about meeting with a Korean-Japanese member of the Japan-based pro-Pyongyang group Chosen Soren in 1994 and contacting him and another North Korean spy in Beijing and Tokyo on six occasions since February 1999.

Kang, one of the founders of the Democratic Labor Party, left for Japan on Aug. 10 with party documents to meet with the Chosen Soren representative. Kang received $2,000 and a letter asking that he participate actively in reunification efforts. Kang was taken into custody at Incheon International Airport upon arrival last Tuesday.

Prosecutors are investigating whether Kang had accomplices in Seoul and whether other members of the party were involved.

An official at the prosecutors office emphasized, though, that the case involves Kang's violation of the National Security Law as an individual. "No evidence leads to any other members of the DLP being involved and there are no plans to broaden the investigation to all DLP officials."

The official added that the prosecutors office had joined the case that the intelligence agency had been following for five years.