Chinese nationals indicted for spying on South Korean and U.S. military

Two Chinese nationals have been indicted in South Korea for allegedly conducting espionage activities targeting South Korean and U.S. military communications and intelligence.

A 60-year-old man, identified as A, a former senior officer in the People's Liberation Army's signal interception unit with 40 years of service, is accused of intercepting communications between fighter pilots and control towers. Between March 2024 and August 2024, he allegedly used radio receivers and antennas installed in hotels near military bases, including Kunsan Air Base, Osan Air Base, and Camp Humphreys, to conduct 13 separate interceptions. Investigators found that he stored 13.9 terabytes of intercepted data on external hard drives to be taken to China.

A second suspect, a 40-year-old man identified as B, a former member of the People's Liberation Army special forces, allegedly used a military supply store near Camp Humphreys as a cover to gather intelligence. By befriending a U.S. soldier and a South Korean civilian employee of the U.S. Eighth Army through gifts and meals, B reportedly obtained sensitive materials. These included training videos of Apache helicopters and F-35 fighter jets, as well as documents regarding U.S. general movements and post-exercise evaluations for the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills. B is accused of transmitting this data to China via messaging apps and social media.

Military experts suggest these incidents may indicate organized intelligence operations, noting a recent rise in Chinese nationals being detained for photographing military facilities in South Korea.