Korean lecturer 'spied for North'

Mr Lee gave army manuals and base locations to the North, say officials

A South Korean university lecturer has been charged with espionage after allegedly passing military information to the North.

The man, identified only by his surname Lee, is said to have been recruited by the North while studying in India.

Prosecutors says he used his post on the state-run unification council to access sensitive military data.

The 37-year-old man is also alleged to have made unauthorised visits to the communist North.

The authorities and National Intelligence Service in Seoul said Mr Lee began spying for the North in 1992, after being approached while studying at the University of Delhi.

They say he had "vast amounts of confidential military information" on computers and storage devices.

The information found included army manuals and the location of South Korean government and military buildings.

Mr Lee is alleged to have received $50,000 (£30,000) from the North to fund his activities and to have travelled over the border to join the communist party.

South Korean prosecutor Yoon Kap-geun told the Yonhap news agency the fact that an "opinion former" could be a spy "tells our country to check its security system".

South Korea has reported several cases of espionage in recent years.

Among them was a woman posing as a defector from the North who was jailed in 2008 for obtaining secret information from South Korean military officers in exchange for sexual favours.