(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-05 22:54

SEOUL - North Korea said Wednesday it had arrested spies working for an unspecified foreign country who were collecting intelligence on the country's military and state secrets.

It said a foreign spy agency had trapped "some corrupt" North Koreans travelling abroad by using money, sex and blackmail and turned them into moles, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

"Recently, the National Security Service of the DPRK (North Korea) has arrested spies who were recruited by a foreign spy agency and its agent who was directing them," it said.

The agent posed as a businessman, it said, adding the spies' missions included taking pictures and drawing maps of key military facilities.

"Anti-espionage agents of the DPRK, who had been watching them closely, arrested on the spot those spies and the agent who had been giving the spies espionage equipment including global positioning systems," it said.

Neither their identities nor the foreign country involved were revealed.

Earlier, a spokesman for North Korea's National Security Service told reporters in Pyongyang that an unspecified number of foreigners were caught as they were conducting espionage activities, according to Xinhua.

Several North Korean nationals were also arrested for helping the alleged spies, Xinhua cited the spokesman, Li Su-Gil, as saying.

"We arrested those spies when they were busy transmitting information, and they will be brought to justice under DPRK law," said the spokesman.

Li said the arrests of the spies showed espionage activities against North Korea were on the rise, despite a recent improvement in its relations with other nations.

"The situation on the Korean peninsula seems to be easing up on the surface, but in fact hostile forces are intensifying their espionage against the DPRK," Li said.

"The goal of hostile forces is to start a psychological war against the DPRK and overthrow socialism and the regime in our country. The people and security service will remain on high alert for this."

The talk of an improving situation on the peninsula was apparently a reference to progress in multilateral talks aimed at disarming North Korea.

Those talks have led to North Korea and the United States beginning discussions that could eventually see them establish normal diplomatic relations.

Li said the spies had used a wide range of equipment including digital cameras and pinhole cameras, in addition to the global positioning systems.

At the press conference, footage was shown of apparently captured spy equipment, including a fake rock containing a satellite communications gadget and a bug in a flower pot, according to Xinhua.