Man in South Korea sentenced to five years for spying for North Korea
The Seoul Central District Court in South Korea sentenced a 43-year-old man to five years in prison for spying on behalf of North Korea. The court found him guilty of violating the National Security Act, The Korea Herald reports.
Assignments via Telegram
According to officials, in May–June 2021, the man received instructions via the Telegram messenger from a North Korean agent to collect information on defectors from North Korea who oppose Pyongyang and on their activities.
Around the same time, he received virtual assets worth about 660 million won, or $479,346, from the agent. The funds were intended for cryptocurrency investment operations.
Later, the man offered financial support to the head of a group of North Korean defectors. He asked him to create a cryptocurrency wallet and passed its address to the North Korean agent. After the agent transferred bitcoins worth 1 million won as a donation, the man received videos and photographs of the group distributing anti-Pyongyang leaflets.
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Data on military personnel
The man was also tasked with collecting personal data on seven active-duty military personnel, including information about their units and resident registration numbers, as well as attempting to recruit them for espionage activities.
To gather information about one of the officers, he hired a private detective agency. It provided information about the officer's unit, residence, schedule, and activities, receiving 2.5 million won in cryptocurrency for this.
The court noted that information about defectors who oppose Pyongyang requires protection, as it could be used to harm them or their families. Separately, South Korea's Supreme Court in December 2025 sentenced the man to four years in prison for attempting to establish contact with an active-duty serviceman and disclosing military secrets at North Korea's request.
