S. Korean Moneylenders Tap Technology to Nab Debtors

South Korea’s economic downturn has affected every corner of life here, even the shadowy world of freelance spies.

Merchants in the warren of small shops in the capital’s Yongsan electronics district say demand for wiretapping devices has declined, as has been the case for most consumer goods since the Asian economic crisis hit here late last year.

But the market would be worse if not for a new use buyers are finding for the devices--spying by bosses who hope to lay off employees or by creditors looking for debtors on the run.

In the past, most of the listening devices were sold to the lovelorn trying to catch unfaithful spouses. That business has withered recently, perhaps because fewer spouses have the money to spend on being unfaithful, shopkeepers say.

“Most people now want them [the devices] because of money problems,” said Hwang In Soo, owner of a small electronics shop in Yongsan. “There are more debtors and lenders, or company officials involved in layoffs that want some evidence to use against [their employees].”

Hwang says his shop doesn’t sell the devices, but he gets inquiries. “It’s too dangerous an item to handle,” he said.

Shopkeepers say more debtors these days flee--or pretend that they have moved or died--to avoid paying their debts. In response, more creditors are using wiretaps to track them down.

According to government estimates, about 20,000 listening devices are sold each year at about 200 electronics stores in Yongsan. Although they are not illegal to own, it is against the law to sell them without a license or to use them without the permission of the person speaking.

Costs range from less than $100 to about $400 for wireless models that are more convenient for those who want to wiretap from a distance. Police and professional security agencies, supposedly operating with court permission, spy in true 007 style using sophisticated devices that retail for $1,000 or more, shopkeepers say.

Wiretapping recently has become a political issue here. President Kim Dae Jung, a former dissident, has staked his reputation on promoting greater democracy, more government disclosure and less state interference.

Yet his government has been accused of spying on members of the conservative opposition, a charge that officials deny.

In an effort to defuse the issue, Seoul has launched a campaign to reduce civilian use of wiretaps. Last month, the government raided several Yongsan shops and arrested two shopkeepers for selling spy equipment without a license.

An official with the Korea Investigation Service Enterprise, one of Seoul’s many errand and odd-job companies, said the raid caused his firm’s business to taper off. Still, the firm has done about 100 bugging jobs this year. Though their activities are technically illegal, the government until recently did not pay much attention to these freelance gumshoes.

“About 55% of the requests were made by creditors who are mostly curbside moneylenders,” the official said, requesting anonymity. “Before the [economic] crisis, requests by moneylenders were unheard of.”

He has mixed feelings about the business, he said. Although it brings in needed revenue for the firm, employees secretly hope that their efforts fail. “We sympathize with those who are hiding from their money problems,” he said. “They are mostly former small-business owners in big trouble.”

In one case, however, Korea Investigation did well by doing good, he said.

The company received a call from a small-time moneylender looking for the owner of a soap-making enterprise who was hiding out to avoid paying several thousand dollars in debt.

Korea Investigation tapped the soap maker’s home phone. After a few days, the debtor called his wife and revealed that he was living in a tent at the base of Dobong Mountain near Seoul.

Korea Investigation found him and brought him in.

The soap maker’s relatives chipped in and paid off his debts, allowing him to return home. “He sometimes calls us and thanks us that, because of us, he no longer has to hide out,” the official said.

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Magnier was recently on assignment in Seoul. Chi Jung Nam in The Times’ Seoul Bureau contributed to this report.