Seoul: The state auditor has taken legal action against senior officials from the former Moon Jae-in administration, accusing them of leaking sensitive intelligence related to the THAAD U.S. missile defense system. These officials have been referred to the prosecution on suspicions of sharing classified information with both activists and China, as confirmed by an official familiar with the situation on Tuesday. According to Yonhap News Agency, former National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong, former Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, and two other officials from the previous administration were submitted to the Supreme Prosecutors Office by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) last month. They are suspected of breaching the Military Secret Protection Act and abusing their authority in the process. The charges against the four officials involve allegedly alerting activists who opposed the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea. They reportedly informed these ac tivists in advance about plans by U.S. and South Korean forces to replace a THAAD battery missile in Seongju, located 215 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in May 2020. This forewarning allegedly led to a confrontation between local residents and police during the missile replacement operation. Additionally, the officials are accused of briefing a defense attache at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul ahead of the missile replacement operation. The BAI suspects that the Moon administration leaked this information in an attempt to impede the full deployment of THAAD. The missile defense system was initially agreed upon by the Park Geun-hye administration in 2016 as a measure to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. China has vehemently opposed the deployment, arguing that THAAD's radar capabilities could potentially be used against it. Local activists and residents have also protested the deployment due to concerns about potential health risks posed by the radar's electromagnetic waves.