- 40-something former Chinese soldier who operated a military supply store inside a USFK base collected South Korea-US exercise materials and more
- 60-something Chinese man near Gunsan Airport wiretapped fighter jet communications with a laptop and unidirectional receiver
- Police arrest both suspects on charges of general aiding of the enemy, violation of the Military Bases Act, and violation of the Protection of Communications Secrets Act
- Controversy grows over holes in the counterintelligence network amid legal blind spots where espionage for entities other than an enemy state (North Korea) cannot be punished
An unprecedented incident has occurred in which former members of the Chinese People's Liberation Army were arrested by the police for stealing military secrets around key South Korean security facilities, including US Forces Korea (USFK) bases and Air Force bases. A critical vulnerability in the screening of foreigners entering military bases and operating commercial facilities has been exposed, putting the national counterintelligence network on high alert.
According to the police, a 40-something Chinese national, 'A', who had been operating a military supplies store inside a USFK base since 2021, and a 60-something Chinese national, 'B', who had been wiretapping aviation radio signals near Gunsan Airport in Jeollabuk-do, have been arrested. It was revealed that both are former veterans who served in the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
A recruited a South Korean woman working inside the US military base to carry out espionage activities. It was revealed that he intensively collected South Korea-US military exercise data, locations of US military command offices and commander inauguration ceremony photos, and even directly observed and photographed the movement of weapons within the base.
B's methods, targeting South Korea-US Air Force assets while staying at a hotel near Gunsan Airport in Jeollabuk-do, were also bold. Entering South Korea intensively starting in 2024—the period of South Korea-US Air Force military exercises—he used a laptop and a unidirectional receiver to illegally wiretap communications between fighter jets and the control tower. B reportedly denied the charges, claiming that listening to civil aviation communications was merely a hobby.
Police applied charges of general aiding of the enemy and violation of the Military Bases Act to A, and charges of general aiding of the enemy and violation of the Protection of Communications Secrets Act to B, placing them under arrest. Under current law, the crime of espionage is limited only to information-gathering activities for an "enemy state (North Korea)," exposing once again through this incident the institutional limitation that foreign spies can only be charged with crimes like general aiding of the enemy rather than espionage.