Singapore, S Korea help NSA to collect data in Asia via undersea high speed ...

According to the top secret US National Security Agency map, the US and its “Five Eyes” partners used high speed fiber optic cables at 20 locations worldwide in cooperation with local governments and telecommunication companies to implement its surveillance program worldwide.

According to the map the US tapped all cable traffic across the Pacific Ocean having interception facilities at the US West Coast, Hawaii and Guam, as well as Australia and Japan. In addition, Singapore is listed as the third party country that helped the US and the “Five Eyes” partners’ espionage agencies.

In August, it was reported that the Australia’s electronic espionage agency, in collaboration with the Singaporean intelligence run undersea communication cable from Japan to Northern Germany via Singapore, Djibouti, Suez and the Straits of Gibraltar. The cables also run from Singapore to the south of France.

The British GCHQ also had access to the undersea cables through military facilities in Djibouti and Oman, having access to the Middle East and South Asian communications.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service also helped the US Central Intelligence Agency and the NSA via collaborating with the Australian intelligence agencies for more than 30 years, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Although the South Korea’s main espionage target has been China.

The NSA map also proves the integration of Australia and New Zealand in the satellite communication traffic interceptions by the “Five Eyes” partners, revealing the codenames of the interception facilities. The Kojarena interception facility near Geraldton in Western Australia is codenamed “STELLAR,” and the New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau facility at Waihopai on New Zealand’s South Island is codenamed “IRONSAND,” according to NSA map.

Coverage of satellite communications across Asia and the Middle East is also supported by NSA facilities at the United States Air Force base at Misawa in Japan, US diplomatic premises in Thailand and India, and British Government Communications Headquarters facilities in Oman, Nairobi in Kenya and at the British military base in Cyprus, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Read further:

- NSA espionage is ‘strong violation of sovereign rights of other countries’ – analyst

- US among 5 countries to tap Merkel’s phone

Voice of Russia, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age

Singapore, S Korea help NSA to collect data in Asia via undersea high speed ...