South Korea was investigating a leak from its top military intelligence command? that ?local news media said had caused a large amount of sensitive information, including personal data on the command¡¯s agents abroad, to end up in North Korea, its military said Saturday.

The military said in a brief statement that it planned to ¡°deal sternly with¡± those responsible for the leak. But it declined to confirm the local media reports, pending its investigation of the Korea ?Defense Intelligence Command,? where the leak took place.

The command, a secretive arm of the South Korean military, specializes in gathering intelligence on North Korea, a heavily militarized country that often threatens ?its southern neighbor with nuclear weapons.