Did spies break into Indonesian group aide`s room?

Two men and a woman in suits and ties appeared at Room 1961 of Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul around 9:20 a.m. Wednesday. They sought to break into the room of an Indonesian delegation aide located in the middle of the floor`s corridor.

The aide was an assistant to Hatta Rajasa, Indonesia’s economic coordination minister and chief of a visiting presidential delegation.

Police said Monday that they do not know how the hotel room door was unlocked. The trio allegedly entered the room when the Indonesian visitors briefly left their rooms ahead of their meeting with President Lee Myung-bak at 10 a.m. and touched two notebook computers in the room.

Returning to his hotel room just before departure, the aide saw the intruders, who took one of the notebooks. When the aide reported the break-in to hotel staff, a hotel employee approached and talked to the intruders, who were standing in inner stairways for employees. They handed over the notebook to the aide, took the elevator, and quickly left the scene.

Police say they secured surveillance video footage of the intruders on the 19th floor lasting nearly six minutes, including two minutes in which they hid themselves with the laptop.

The incident was reported to Namdaemun Police Station around 11:15 p.m., or some 13 hours later. Police went to the scene, were given the two notebook PCs by the Indonesian visitors, and conducted inspection including taking fingerprints.

Police said they could not figure out the reason for delayed reporting to police after the incident happened.

An agent from Korea’s National Intelligence Service visited the police station around 3:40 a.m. Thursday and spoke to the chiefs of the violent crime team and situation department. He asked what the Indonesian officials first reported to police and the progress in the investigation, and then asked police to keep the incident confidential.

The agent’s job title or affiliation within the agency remained unknown. The Indonesian delegation abruptly rejected the Korean investigation of the incident Thursday, saying, “We don’t want the Korean side to have access to any information stored in the notebook.”

The delegation then wrote a memo that they “will not raise any issue with the incident” and left Korea Friday.