South Korea’s state auditor is said to have accused high-ranking government officials in the Moon Jae-in administration of leaking classified information related to the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense(THAAD) system to China and civic groups at home. 

According to a source at a law enforcement agency Tuesday, the Board of Audit and Inspection(BAI) has asked the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office to investigate former national security adviser Chung Eui-yong, former Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and two others. 

According to the official, the four are suspected of having provided information on the military’s THAAD missile replacement operation in May 2020 to a civic group in order to delay the full deployment of the system, prompting a physical confrontation between activists and the police.

The BAI also suspects that the officials disclosed the timing and other details of the operation to the Chinese embassy in South Korea in violation of the Military Secret Protection Act.

A group of retired military generals filed a petition with the BAI last year to look at the allegations, after which the state auditor investigated a total of eleven government agencies to shed light on the matter. 

The BAI is expected to release details in its audit report in the first half of next year.  

The THAAD missile interceptors were deployed in South Korea in 2017 despite fierce opposition from China.