Korean National Makes History as First to Fall Under ‘Anti-Espionage Act’: Diplomatic Residences Raided in Shocking Twist
- A Korean living in China was arrested on charges of espionage.
- The accommodations of foreign diplomats, including Korean ones, are being searched one after another, and Beijing correspondent Jeong Young-tae reported on the reason.
- A Korean man in his 50s living in Anhui Province, China, was taken into custody by the National Security Bureau, China's counterintelligence agency, at the end of last...
A Korean living in China was arrested on charges of espionage. Last year, China implemented the Anti-Espionage Act, which greatly expanded the scope of espionage, and this is the first time a Korean has been arrested on charges of violating this law.
The accommodations of foreign diplomats, including Korean ones, are being searched one after another, and Beijing correspondent Jeong Young-tae reported on the reason.
A Korean man in his 50s living in Anhui Province, China, was taken into custody by the National Security Bureau, China’s counterintelligence agency, at the end of last year.
He is from Samsung Electronics and has worked at a Chinese semiconductor company since 2016. It was belatedly known that he was investigated for leaking Chinese technical information to Korea and was arrested last May.
This is the first case of arrest of a Korean since the implementation of China’s revised Anti-Espionage Act.
[린젠/중국 외교부 대변인 : 중국은 법치국가입니다. 이 한국인은 간첩죄 혐의로 법에 따라 관련 당국에 체포됐습니다.]
The revised law expanded the scope of espionage from the existing ‘national confidential information’ to ‘materials related to national security and interests’.
Concerns have been raised about arbitrary application due to vague regulations that can result in punishment for overseas leaks of simple statistics or industry trend data.
As surveillance on foreigners has strengthened significantly, the accommodations of diplomats stationed in China in Korea, Australia, and European countries have been searched one after another this year.
While the diplomat was leaving the hotel room he was staying in on a business trip, Chinese authorities demanded the hotel open the door and searched his belongings.
It is known that physical fights broke out as diplomats from some countries protested.
Korean companies have issued instructions to their expatriates to avoid sharing data through Chinese social media and to be careful about religious activities.
In the case of Japan, at least 17 people, including scholars and businessmen, have been arrested in China over the past 10 years since the anti-espionage law was implemented, and a Japanese man in his 50s was sentenced to 12 years in prison last year.
There is also an analysis that China is responding to the recent strengthening of crackdowns on core technology leaks from the United States, Japan, and Korea to China.
(Video reporting: Choi Deok-hyun, Video editing: Kim Jin-won)
Reporter Jeong Young-tae jytae@sbs.co.kr
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