South Korean Army sergeant sentenced to 4 years for leaking military secrets to China

South Korea's Supreme Court has finalized a four-year prison sentence for a former Army sergeant accused of leaking military secrets to Chinese intelligence. The individual, born in China and raised in Beijing, was found guilty of charges including general treason, leakage of military secrets, and bribery.

Investigations revealed that the defendant met an individual claiming to be a Chinese intelligence official in Beijing in August 2024 after connecting via social media. Between August 2024 and February 2025, the sergeant received approximately 17.26 million won across seven transactions in exchange for sensitive data. The leaked information included details regarding the ‘Ulchi Freedom Shield’ (UFS) combined military exercises, United Nations Command-related documents, and South Korean military solo training materials.

The compromised data reportedly contained names and locations of US forces stationed in South Korea, troop reinforcement plans, target locations for precision strikes, and the contact information and ranks of personnel involved in combined exercises. To bypass security restrictions on mobile phones, the defendant reportedly used a specialized wristwatch camera provided by the contact to photograph classified documents.