Russia expels South Korean spies: report

SEOUL: Russia has expelled four South Korean spies who had been collecting information on North Korea, a newspaper said Monday.
 
The four, who held diplomatic passports, were kicked out between late last year and June this year, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing unidentified officials from both countries.

Two of the agents had two years of their term left when they were told to leave, the daily said.

None of them were officially designated "persona non grata" and Seoul took no retaliatory measures against Russian agents here, it said.

"We cannot confirm intelligence-related information," a spokesman for Seoul's National Intelligence Service told AFP.

The communist North and capitalist South have remained technically at war since the 1950-53 conflict ended only in an armistice. Agents from both sides routinely attempt to gather information on each other.