South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday announced a plan to create a government-backed technology investment organization modeled on the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s In-Q-Tel, a move expected to expand the National Intelligence Service’s role in the security industry while raising privacy and surveillance concerns.
Lee made the announcement during a strategy meeting at the presidential office on fostering companies specializing in emerging national security technologies. He said the government intends to “foster innovative security companies that possess advanced technologies in artificial intelligence, drones, cybersecurity, aerospace and other fields.”
Lee cited the U.S. companies In-Q-Tel, Palantir Technologies and Anduril Industries as examples of the kind of firms the initiative aims to produce. “Like the CIA’s In-Q-Tel model, we will expand strategic government investment in the security industry by establishing a Korean version of In-Q-Tel,” Lee said. “We will provide strong support so domestic startups and venture companies can emerge as leaders in the security market, as Palantir and Anduril have.”
National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok attended the meeting, underscoring the agency’s expected role in the initiative.
In-Q-Tel is an independent nonprofit strategic investment organization established by the CIA in 1999 to identify innovative private-sector technologies that conventional intelligence agencies, constrained by bureaucracy and secrecy, may struggle to develop internally. The organization invests in startups working in areas such as artificial intelligence, big data and cybersecurity, helping make their technologies available to U.S. intelligence and national security agencies.
Palantir, founded in 2003 and backed by In-Q-Tel during its early development, produces data-analysis platforms used by U.S. defense, intelligence and law enforcement agencies for purposes including counterterrorism investigations and crime analysis.
Because the CIA played a central role in establishing In-Q-Tel and supporting Palantir’s early growth, observers expect South Korea’s National Intelligence Service to play a leading role in planning and operating a similar domestic program. Under such a model, the NIS could finance private technology companies, gain access to their AI and big-data capabilities, and incorporate those systems into government intelligence networks.
The potential integration of private-sector technology into national security systems has generated criticism over privacy and government surveillance. A 2022 Temple University study titled “The Seer and the Seen: Surveying Palantir’s Surveillance Platform” examined the use of Palantir systems by agencies including the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The study said Palantir technology had been used in immigration enforcement operations to track undocumented immigrants, collect evidence and support deportation proceedings. It cited a 2019 operation in Mississippi involving 680 migrant workers as a prominent example. The researchers said Palantir’s broad data-analysis capabilities could be combined with government authority to create platforms capable of recording, tracking and controlling information about individuals.
A South Korean security policy expert said transparent oversight measures will be essential to prevent the intelligence agency’s authority from expanding without adequate checks.
“The National Intelligence Service’s funding and intelligence capabilities could make a positive contribution to developing advanced private-sector technologies,” the expert said. “However, a thorough system of mutual oversight must be established to ensure that this does not lead to surveillance of civilians or misuse of data.”