The National Intelligence Service says it has arrested a North Korean spy with a South Asian passport.

Government officials said Monday that the suspect is believed to be the first North Korean spy to be captured since the incumbent government took office in 2003.

Sources said the North Korean, who is only identified as Jeong, sneaked into the country on three previous occasions from 1996 to 1998 before being caught last month.

Sources said Jeong was a member of the 35th Office, an organization under the North’s ruling Korean Workers’ Party in charge of espionage operations against the South.

The 35th Office is thought to be in charge of collecting intelligence from a third country and recruiting foreigners to infiltrate the South.