The Pentagon’s Missionary Spies
The Intercept’s Matthew Cole reports that the U.S. government used a faith-based NGO to spy on North Korea. Cole writes that the now-defunct group’s CEO, Kay Hiramine, “tapped Christian missionaries, aid workers, and Chinese smugglers to move equipment into and around North Korea — none of whom had any idea that they were part of a secret Pentagon operation.” While using NGOs for espionage is not unprecedented for U.S. policy, Cole notes, “In recent years, the risk of using legitimate aid workers as cover for spying has had deadly repercussions.”