South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) named actor Hyun Bin an honorary counter-intelligence officer on 7 April, aiming to boost public awareness of the nation’s updated counter-espionage laws.

The 43-year-old star’s appointment follows a February revision to the Criminal Act by South Korea’s National Assembly, which expanded espionage offenses to include activities by not just “enemy states," but also “foreign countries or equivalent organisations”. This change provides a firmer legal foundation for tackling foreign intelligence threats to national security.

The NIS hopes the role will shift public views, moving beyond the idea that counter-intelligence is solely about uncovering agents from North Korea. The two Koreas remain technically at war since the Korean War (1950-1953) ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

Today, the agency stresses, counter-intelligence involves the detection, deterrence and disruption of any foreign information activities that could undermine South Korea’s security or national interests. It highlighted rising cases of foreign attempts to steal advanced technology and defence-industry secrets, describing counter-intelligence as a “critical national survival task”.

Hyun Bin’s pick also nods to his role in the 2023 action thriller The Point Men, where he played an NIS officer teaming up with a diplomat (Hwang Jung-min) to free South Korean hostages in Afghanistan.