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Some sixty former South Korean intelligence agents, calling for their service to their country to be recognized, clashed with the police Thursday morning in front of the Korean Army intelligence unit's headquarters in southern Seoul where a parliamentary inquiry into the unit was taking place. The former spies, active between 1950 and 1970, demanded to meet with the legislators but were stopped by the police and current army intelligence agents.

Chung Seung-ho, 50, leader of the group, demanded an explanation from the legislators as to why a representative of his group was dropped from a list of witnesses at the last minute. He added that the former secret agents want the government to restore their honor by recognizing what they did for South Korea.

Another member of the group, who declined to be identified by name, said he was threatened by the government not to make public the information he acquired in North Korea. He said he did not receive a pension he earned after being dispatched to North Korea four times in the 1960s. Other members of the group said they had been prevented from gathering either to discuss their plight or to demand their rights.