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Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Two South Koreans Arrested over Spying for North


Fri 29 Apr 2022 | 01:22 PM
Omnia Ahmed

Two South Koreans, including a serving army captain, were arrested on charges of stealing military secrets for the North, Seoul police confirmed on Friday.

North Korea has been operating an army of thousands of well-trained hackers who have attacked firms, institutions, and researchers in the South and elsewhere.

However, this is the first time when a South Korean "civilian and an active-duty military captain were caught trying to obtain military secrets, at the behest of a North Korean agent," the police said in a statement.

One of two people is a 29-year-old army captain who allegedly passed login information for South Korea's Joint Command & Control System to the suspected Pyongyang spy, according to Seoul authorities.

The second spy is a 38-year-old businessman who runs a virtual asset management firm. He is accused of giving the army captain a wristwatch with a secret camera to aid in intelligence gathering.

"The two men have been arrested on charges of violating the national security law," an official at the Korean National Police Agency told AFP Friday.

Seoul police indicated that both were paid in cryptocurrency, noting that the army captain received about 48 million won ($37,789) from the North Korean agent, while the 38-year-old businessman got around $600,000.

"We will strictly respond to security criminals in accordance to laws and principles," the prosecution office stated.